Bad Blood
by slaygirl101
Summary: Sometimes people find themselves when they're lost. River and Jayne are split up from the rest of the crew and are trying to find their way home before anything else goes wrong. Cannon and eventual Rayne. UNFINISHED! This hasn't been worked on in YEARS!
1. One of Those Days

Series: Bad Blood

Disclaimer: Okay, I don't own the characters you recognize; if you've never heard of them before that means I own 'em, simple huh?

Author's Notes: I started writing this long before I saw the movie, then I saw the movie and I kind of started it in a very similiar way (but I didn't want to change it cause it worked gorramit!) Besides you know what they say about genius's and the way they think and the like.

After the movie I had to change parts of my story (because I couldn't bring myself to ignore certain deaths cries) and I've been sitting on it for a while now. I decided one day, hey lets share with the world. I just want to start off saying the story is going to have cannon and Rayne so if it isn't your cup of tea then move along (although you can read this chapter and the next one, they don't have any Rayne in 'em, well River and Jayne interact but they don't go jumping each other or anything extreme.)

This is woefully unbetaed (my beta had to quit on me and didn't get to read my first chapter so I'm sorry) and it's kind of long (4,182 words) but the next one is betaed (and its longer) but I'll get to all of that in the next one's author note.

I have a love hate relationship with this site (they wont let me write the name of the site, but you all know where you are right now don't you?). They deleted two stories I wrote with my friend because they claimed it was "Instant Message" conversations (which if you read the thing you would know it wasn't, it was script format without the INT: BACKWOODS crap) but I do have many stories fav'd and I love the review system. On that note, I would love some constructive criticism on this; after all it's the only way I'm going to get any better.

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He was asleep, and it was nice, really nice. For once his dreams weren't filled with bombs over-head, gun fire erupting around him, and dead bodies piling up. No, right now he was asleep; something that, in-and-of itself, was a rarity. He was blissfully drifting in vacant dreams, which might be the reason he jumped up with a little yelp as his world shuddered around him.

"The hell?" One very sleep laden captain asked to his empty room. Mal sat there, on his bed leaning back on his arms, hair in every direction and so very confused. Briefly he wondered if he wasn't just a glutton for punishment and subconsciously woke himself from his wonderful dreamless sleep, only imagining the whole of his ship rocking around him. Then it happened again.

Serenity shook around him as if she was going to shiver into a million pieces.

"Its gonna be one of those days." He sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair, only making it worse. As he began to stand the ship shook again and then jumped suddenly causing him to almost fall. "Well that was a sight worse then the first bit.." he muttered under his breath as he began to climb the ladder out of his bunk.

Mal staggered down the hall from his bunk towards the bridge as Serenity continued to shake.

"What in the hell is going on? Aint somebody drivin' this gorram thing?" He comes storming onto the bridge to find River behind the wheel and Zoe at the second's controls. Both women are pushing buttons and flipping switches trying to fix whatever was wrong.

"Did somethin' fall off? Did we lose another, very important, pieces to my boat?"

"Attempts to re-stabilize are inefficient, not our fault." River muttered as she held the wheel of the ship in a white knuckled grip.

Mal stared at the small girl in confusion for a moment "What does that mean?"

"Some debris or something scans didn't pick up. Our main stabilizers got hit the worse, knocked out our Nav. System." Zoe answered him, a mix between a confused grimace and a grin on her face.

"Why didn't she just say that?" He asked Zoe, then turned to face River "Why's she gotta go and say stuff no one understands?"

The ship again shudders around them and jumps violently, throwing Mal into the wall to his right. "Tah mah duh hwoon dahn!" River mutters angrily.

Mal stared at the girl in front of him "That I understood!"

"We under an attack or sumthin'?" Jayne asks as he steps from the doorway of his bunk. "Cause I'm getting' the feelin' we're all gonna be a mite bit deader in a few."

Mal gives Jayne a short glance "We may very well be…" He moves over to grab the intercom "Kaylee!" Static meets his ears. He stares down at the com in his hand before glancing to Zoe.

"Com's and Cortex are coming in and out, musta just dinged the nav system and bounced off it into our antenna. Main feed's gonna be a mess till we fix it."

"Wait, the main feed? How the hell we gonna get clearance to land?" Zoe gives him a steady look as the ship shakes more. "Right, one problem at a time. We'll just…deal with it later." He turns and walks to the doorway that leads down to the bunks "Kaylee!" He screams down the hallway, hoping like hell she can hear him from there. The way the ship was shaking it would be hell to have to make his way down to the engine room.

"I know!" From across the ship the voice of a slightly frazzled mechanic shouted over the noise of the ship's shuttering. The entire ship jumps one more time before the violent shuddering begins to lessen.

"That's my girl." Mal grinned to himself, patting the hull of his ship. "That's my girl."

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River walks down the stairs into the bay, where the rest of the crew is already gathering.

"Another, mostly smooth landing, you might just become a pilot yet 'Lil Albatross." Mal says grinning up at her from next to the Mule.

Kaylee is the last to join the crew, coming down the stairs noticeably less sunny then normal. Her eyes were glued to a blackened piece of metal in her hand.

"So, what's the damage?" Kaylee glances up from the broken part and gives Mal a look that answered that question and more. He flinches slightly at the 'kicked puppy' face she just made.

"Com's 'r down, Cortex is out, stabilizers for re-entry are shot" She holds the piece of blackened metal up so he can see for himself "Nav's catalyzer is dead, more then three power couplin's are dead…" She continues on sounded more and more despondent.

"Right…" He cut her off before she could sound any sadder "So I guess we're all headed in town then?"

"All of us?"

Mal turns towards Simon and fixes him a patient smile. "Sure, Harvest is as good as any to get out and stretch. Sides we all got errands to be runnin'. 'Nara's got herself a client later today, Kaylee obviously needs to get some pieces for the boat, you're bout due for a restock, and the rest of us got some business to get attending."

Jayne smirks at Mal's use of words. Business to attend to, more like they was gonna drop off their cargo and be forced to "persuade" those pickin' it up to pay 'em. Yup, business as usual always ended up in bullets and blood, or at the very least broken bones.

"Exactly, you have a job. Don't you think its best if some of us stayed on the ship? In case…well, in case the job goes like they normally do?" Simon questioned without a hint of humor. Mal's patient smile fell and he wore a face similar to Kaylee's, which just caused Jayne's smirk turned into a full on grin.

"He's got a point sir…" Mal throws his wounded look on Zoe, offended that she would take his side in this.

"Point or not I'm still the captain, and what I say goes!" He stated slightly hurt. He looks around the large room and notes that not a one of his crew is showing any signs of agreeing with him, in fact they just stood there staring at him. "Fine! Simon you stay here, in case our luck holds out. Me, Zoe, Jayne and River are gonna go make the drop." He turns to look at the three of them. "We aint worked with these people before, could be we get lucky and they don't tryin' shoot us….but it'd be a comfort to have our mind reading genius warrior woman with us, just in case. 'Lil Kaylee, think you can find what our girl needs here?"

"Yeah, Harvest's good as any to find power couplin's and the catalyzer we fried on the nav but…" her face fell slightly "The stabilizers for re-entry aint gonna be cheap."

Mal sighs deeply, giving the ground a good glare "Never is…" He looks back to the sunny mechanic "Don't you worry on that, just get what we need to keep from fallin' right outta the sky dong ma?"

"Shiny Capn'."

Simon looks from Mal to Kaylee and back. "Do you think that's safe? Letting her go out on her own?"

Kaylee flashes him a bright smile "Shouldn't be any trouble…."

"But…"

"But nothin' Simon. I'll be fine, honest engine!"

Mal watches as Simon's eyes move from Kaylee to River for a moment before moving back. It was brief, something a person could easily have missed, but in those few seconds the look of utter defeat flashed across his eyes. Mal knew that look entirely too well. You could tell the young doctor felt he had little sway in the actions of the crew around him, granted that was cause it was true, but that don't mean he should feel like that. Simon had fought like hell the first time Mal had decided to take River on a run after Miranda and it had been an interesting fight too. First and only time Jayne and Simon agreed on something, although to be fair they had completely different reasons to want her off the run. Jayne's had been a frighteningly intelligent reason too, and the mere fact that Mal placed the word intelligent and Jayne in the same sentence, without the word aint in-between was creepifyin' enough, he hadn't needed to agree with the Merc on top of it all. While Simon's was a good deal more selfish you couldn't blame him. River was his mei mei, and the need to protect her even if she don't need it aint going to go away anytime soon. But defeated or not, Simon was right on this one.

"Right, well just the same he's got a point. Aint been on Harvest for a while now. 'Nara you think you could go with her to get the parts?"

"Of course. My appointment isn't for some time now." She gave Kaylee a small smile which caused the slightly glum mechanic to brighten instantly.

He would find it scary how easily being happy was to that girl, except for the fact that it was a bit infections at times, annoying but infections. "Good, you find the parts an' get back to Serenity. I don't want no dallyin' dong ma?"

Kaylee just smiles at him as Inara suppresses a sigh "Okay then. Lets get a move on people."

Jayne loads the last box of cargo into the Mule before climbing in. Zoe sits at the wheel, with Mal at her side.

"Take care," Inara offers to Zoe before looking at Mal "and be careful."

"Hey, it's me." He grinned at her as the Mule raced off.

Inara sighed quietly as she watched the Mule move away from the ship and towards town. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"Aw, they'll be fine 'Nara." Kaylee offers the Companion.

"What are the odds they make it back in one piece?"

"Oh, them's odds are good what with all four of 'em goin'."

"It's 4 to 1 odds he gets shot though" Simon offers from behind the two women.

"I'm the one…" Kaylee says slightly depressed.

"You all betted?" Inara asks her in shock.

"No, not all of us…well, you didn't." She offer's meekly.

"Oh, he's going to get shot." Kaylee stares at her like she's gone mad "When does he ever not get shot? Or stabbed? Or beaten?"

"Well, he is kinda accident prone."

"Accident prone? Kaylee if it weren't for Zoe that man would be dead by now." Inara sighs again and looks out at the horizon, the Mule quickly fading into the distance.

"I suppose I should go and ready the infirmary for his impending gun shot wound then." Simon says before pecking Kaylee on the cheek "Be careful today."

"I will." She says giving him a brilliant smile before he leaves to the infirmary.

Inara smiles at the mechanic, who is staring after Simon, or more accurately where Simon had just been. "Let's get going mei mei. The sooner we start the quicker you can get back and spend some alone time with Simon."

Kaylee beamed brightly at the thought and rushed off towards the engine room, shouting about how she needed to patch a few things up first. "Won't take but a minute!"

"I'll be in my shuttle waiting then." Inara smiled after the girl before closing the cargo bay doors and making her way up to her shuttle.

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The Mule took off over the flat terrain of Harvest. Harvest was a lot like many of the other mid planets, not nearly as refined as the Core itself, but no where near as poor and unkempt as the planets at the edge. No Harvest was right smack dab in the middle, which made it the perfect place for not only fairly fine livin', but more then fine dealin' in the not so legal sense.

The planet as a whole weren't much bigger then Persephone, a little less densely populated, but around the exact same size. The main difference between the two was Harvest's weather, ideal for farming, which lead to the planets name sake.

Harvest is the main exporter of grown goods in the 'Verse. Odds are if you had ever had fresh produce you didn't grown your own self, it came from Harvest. The planet had begun like any other. Terra formed and colonized, didn't take long for everyone to realize how fertile the place was. Eventually someone figured they could make a good amount of money offa those fruits and vegetables. Soon the planet had gone from your regular outer rim piece of go se, to a kind of corporate farming planet complete with huge cities on the edges of the biggest farming plantations.

"We're meetin' them downtown." Mal shouted over the noise of the air wiping around them.

"Thought we weren't doing this in the city?" Zoe asks, never once taking her eyes off of the road in front of her.

"So did I, but apparently we agreed to let 'em pick the drop point."

"We? That some French guy I aint met?" Jayne barks from the back seat.

Mal fixes him a steady glare "Point is they decided to change where we're meetin', so I want us all on guard, especially you little witch."

Jayne slouched back into his seat watching as the large city of Nieuwe Maan grew closer'n closer. He hated when the plan changed, what's the point of a gorram plan if'n you just change it at the drop of a hat? Side's a change last minuet like this usually meant trap or double cross. Might as well just have a huge neon flashing sign that says "gonna try'n steal ya blind!" over 'em if your just gonna go and pull something like that. This was why he didn't like people in general, they never made any gorram sense.

River sat next to him, those stupid ass goggles on. Never understood that neither, why he an' crazy were the only ones with enough sense to wear something' to cover there eyes. Mule kicks up all kinds of go se when you're in it, and odds are against you not getting something in your eyes. All it takes is a bitty piece of dirt flyin' fast enough to blind a guy.

It didn't take long for him to get bored with scowling at the landscape. "So what exactly 'r we droppin' off here?"

"Methyl parathion"

"What the hell is that?"

"Wasn't sure I wanted to know. It was sealed up and wouldn't cause any problems if it stayed that way." Mal answered looking over his shoulder at the two in the back seat.

"Methyl parathion is a highly toxic organophosphate insecticide first registered in 1954." Both men turned their gazes to River as she continues "Short-term exposure may affect the nervous system by inhibiting cholinesterase. At normal levels, cholinesterase breaks down acetylcholine, which helps transmit signals in the nervous system. When cholinesterase is inhibited, an excess of acetylcholine builds up and impairs the proper functioning of the nervous system causing neurological problems. At high levels of exposure it can lead to respiratory failure and death. It's an illegal pesticide."

Jayne glances down to the box seated between himself and River "Why'd they want illegal pesticide?"

"Place like Harvest, farmin's a competitive business." Zoe spoke up for the first time since she changed course. "Biggest farms get contracted to ship out food to all over the 'Verse. Those contracts bring in a lot of money. Plenty of people'd do whatever it takes to make sure they get those contracts. Could be this stuff is cheaper and easier to use then the legal stuff, could be they want to frame someone."

"Not our place to figure it out. Just be on guard." Mal states ending the conversation abruptly, he was starting to get a bad feeling about this deal, something he didn't want to share with the others.

The Mule came to a stop at the end of a deserted alley. Large buildings stood all around them, casting ominous shadows about the area. Mal and Zoe stared down the alley way to the 5 men waiting for them.

"They're early…" Mal sighed quietly as they began to jump out of the Mule.

"I'm not sure I like this Mal." Jayne muttered as he helped River down from the Mule. Gorram girl was wearing a skirt on a run, made no sense to him but apparently it was tactical to have someone like her lookin' all innocent when she's actually totally deadly. It gives us the upper hand Mal said, frankly speakin' she didn't look deadly no matter what, less'n she was kicking your ass, she don't need a skirt to look not intimidating.

Mal started walking towards the men in the ally "Well, you don't have to like it." He turned to look at River then Jayne. "Just stand there and look mean." Jayne glared at the captain, giving him a 'I know how to do my job' kind of smirk. "Let's get this over with."

Mal and Zoe step towards the group of men in front of them, River and Jayne not far behind. "Evenin'"

"Where's the cargo?" The big one in the front barked. Gregor Branning if memory served, son of Darryl Branning owner of one of the biggest farms on Harvest. Looks like Zoe was right, new contracts comin' up and someone wanted to make sure they were getting it.

"Where's my pay?"

"You don't get the money till we get the cargo."

Mal stood there for a moment, staring at the five in front of him. "That aint how it works." It was going to be one of those deals, first timers never did quiet know how to handle the situation. "You give me the money then I give you the cargo, that was the deal…"

"What keeps you from takin' the money and the cargo and leavin'?" One of the ones over to the side asked. He looked more then a little like Gregor, must be kin.

"Well those nice guns you've got in your hands for one." Their hands tighten on their guns. Jayne was getting antsy, he gripped his gun a little tighter too, and Zoe's hand moved to hover over her own weapon.

"Look I double cross you how much more business you think Badgers gonna do with me? None, and I can't chance loosin' that business." Mal says as calmly as possible, these men were on edge and logic may just help 'em calm down some. "Sides I'm more inclined to believe me anyhow. Changin' the meeting spot so sudden can make a guy a mite nervous."

"We?" The sentence dies as Gregor's brow furrowed. He turned back to his men, a steady glare between each of them. One of the men re-adjusts his grip on his gun, eyes darting around the group, never staying on one person for long. "Hal…"

Mal watched the exchange and grew tenser as Gregor shot his man a death glare. "I'm gonna get shot…" He muttered under his breath. "Look, you just toss over that money so me an mine can give you your cargo and we can all ride into our respective sunsets no worse for wear dong ma?"

Gregor stops glaring at his man and turns back to Mal. He nods to one of his other men who reaches behind his body to a pouch attached to his belt. He tosses the bag of money to Mal who catches it. He gives Gregor a small smirk and without taking his eyes off of the men in front of him shouts to Jayne over his shoulder.

Jayne drops his gun, letting it hang at his side, as he walks back to the Mule. The big Merc walks over next to Mal and drops the box he was carryin' onto the ground.

"Here's your cargo gentle men…pleasure doin' business and the such. Sure you wont mind us leavin'." Mal turns towards Zoe and they begin to make their way back to the Mule, Jayne right behind them.

Jayne turns and moves towards the Mule, pulling his gun off his shoulder as he walked. He didn't trust these men, trusts 'em even less after that whole stare down thing they did with one of their own. He'd rather have his gun ready in case something happened, rather then be left wishin' he'd had it ready.

River stood over to the side, unusually quite which weren't a good sign at all. He looked at her as he walked by, an odd expression on her face. Jayne frowns at her in confusion before she gasp quietly and goes totally still. "Mal!"

Mal looked back over his shoulder to Jayne, who's back was facing him, so he turned to look over his shoulder a little further to where Jayne's eyes were. Mal's carefully practiced and often worn "calm" look changed the moment his eyes fell on River. He spun back around to face Zoe, an order in his eyes long before it could come out of his mouth.

River looked up at Jayne, eyes wide and unfocused. Just as Jayne was about to say something gun fire erupted around them. Mal and Zoe dove for cover behind the corner of a building only a few feet away from the Mule as Jayne pulled River down with him until they were huddled together behind a large metal trash container.

"Zoe?"

"Fine sir. You see River or Jayne?"

Mal looked around the corner of the building they were behind. "No, musta gotten to cover 'fore I looked"

"Who's doin' the shootin'?"

"I don't rightly know." Mal stuck his head back around the corner of the building trying to see who was killin' who out there.

Gregor was huddled against a wall, two of his men next to him. One of them was down, and the other was high tailin' it down the street.

"Lester you bun tyen-shung duh ee-dway-ro! I'm gonna kill you!" Gregor yelled at the retreating man as gunfire continued to pour down on them.

Double cross, how did that not surprise him? Mal glared at the three men pinned down and then over to the eight or so that had just shown up. The two groups continued firing on one another as Mal turned back to Zoe. "Who knew farmin' was such a hazardous business?"

"What exactly should we be doin' Sir?" Zoe asked in a calm tone that let him know she had gone into warrior mode.

"Mal!" Mal stopped what he was about to say as he heard his name echo in the ally. He turned and looked around frantically until he spotted Jayne across the ally from him, River ducked down behind him.

"Jayne?"

"We're fine, got down fore they all started firin'." Jayne answered his silent question.

Mal nods mutely as he surveys the gun fight. "Think you can make the Mule?"

"Think we can make the mule?" Zoe asks from behind him, looking out to where the Mule was parked. It was only a few yards from where they were tucked away, a lot further for Jayne and River.

Jayne leans his head out into the ally a bullet coming dangerously close to his head. He moved back behind the trash container. "Doubt it…"

"Sir?"

"I know…We get to the mule, head back and wait for Jayne and River on Serenity, that's the plan." He ordered as a bullet ringed by.

Zoe stared at her captain unflinching as another bullet came dangerously close to the two "You sure that's a good idea?"

"Hell Zoe, anyone can make it outta a gun fight its Jayne, and I aint gonna worry too much over River the government created warrior woman's safety." He answered as he continued to watch the two groups exchange fire.

"Right, but I meant us runnin' to the Mule."

Mal turned to look back at her serious face. "Don't worry, I'll be the one to get shot." He said a small smirk on his face.

"That's what I'm worried about sir." She muttered under her breath as Mal turned back to Jayne and River.

"Jayne! We gotta go." He yelled over the gunfire.

Jayne glared across the ally, partially in anger, and partially because of all the smoke the shoot out was makin. "Yeah! I know…Go."

"Get back to the port as quick as you can Jayne."

This time he glared entirely out of annoyance. "Yeah I gottchya."

Mal nodded to him and turned back to his second. "Okay, to the Mule on 3. 1…2…."

Bright lights fill the back alley as an aircraft floated overhead, Mal's counting died as he looked up at the ship. "Freeze, you are all under arrest." The Fed car's loud speakers boomed over the sound of guns.

Mal glared up into the sky, eye's locked on the Fed's car "Well this just keeps getting better and better."

TBC


	2. Going Our Separate Ways

Disclaimer: If I owned them would I really be writing this? Okay so I would be…you've got me on that one.

Author's Notes: A little note here, for the story below. The name of Jayne's gun comes from the October Dallas Comic Con. Someone asked Adam what the name of his gun was in the movie and he told us he hadn't named it. Then he decided Steve was the perfect name (and thus the gun in my story is named Steve, actually I might just write a little drabble about dear ole Steve so everyone knows why he named it that, yes I came up with a perfectly good reason for it as I wrote this chapter)

Also, since I know some of us wanted to know, Adam really does play the guitar (I know 'cause I asked). That was his guitar in the movie that the prop guys added some cut outs to so it would look more futuristic. He said he didn't have enough guts to play in front of a bunch of people "like…oh say, James Marsters…guy is nuts." (his words not mine)

Again it's kind of long (4,479 words), major thanks to the best beta ever. Kim, you're a lifesaver…no really, you saved my life by betaing this. I don't think I could survive spelling minute wrong one more time.

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Kaylee stared at the squat little man behind the counter as she tried to think of the best way to get him to drop the price on the power couplings they needed for Serenity. Weren't no way she was gonna intimidate him, and the likes of her impressin' him with all her techno babble were slim. She was either gonna have to flirt her way to a 150 credit drop, or talk 'im down.

Kaylee looked from Jeorge, spelt with a J but pronounced like a G, to the power couplins she had in her hands and sighed quietly. She looked back to Jeorge, and realized there weren't no way she was gonna be able to flirt him down in price thanks to Jayne. He just had to make fun of how he spelt his name, which were all manners of ironical if you thought on it, which she did, and out loud. Honestly, she was the only one that could make fun of his name an' how he spelt it without ending up dead or hurt.

Man could be all manners of intimidatin' though, which was good for the last time. Don't much care what his name is don't change the fact that Jayne was huge and scary lookin', got a fair price on everythin' even with him pokin' fun at Jeorge's name. But that didn't do her a lick a good this go round.

Kaylee sighed again and decided on option three, get 'Nara ta do it. Ain't a soul in the 'Verse she couldn't charm one way or 'nother. Even grumpy ole Jeorge was bound to change his price fur her.

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Inara stood amongst the aisles of parts and pieces of machinery in the shop. Kaylee had run off to collect all they needed for the ship which left Inara to wander the store by herself. Oh she could have shopped with Kaylee, but when it came to the ship and what made her run Kaylee became rather single minded. Maybe single minded wasn't the word to use?

"Hey 'Nara."

Inara stopped fiddling with the piece of tubing she had been eyeing earlier, the right word for Kaylee's state of mind when it came to her 'girl' leaving as she turned to see Kaylee standing at the end of the isle.

"I need your help with somethin'." Kaylee continued as she walked towards her friend. "It'll only take a sec I swear."

"How much cheaper should whatever I'm following you for be?" Inara asked playfully as she followed the young mechanic towards the front of the store.

Kaylee turned and stared at Inara, total shock painted on her face. "'Nara! Make it sound like all I do is use ya to get things." Inara cocked her head to the side stared at the girl in front of her, her 'yes, and?' look on her face. "Okay fine, this time it is that…but I don't always do it!"

Inara smiled brightly at the mechanic as sirens sounded off in the distance. Inara and Kaylee both looked out of the store's large front windows towards where the sound was coming from.

Inara would never tell anyone, but whenever she heard that sound and the rest of the crew was on a job she would tense. She was always worried that this time, that was for them. That this time when he got shot, that would be it.

"'Nara." Kaylee was looking at the companion a bit worried.

"Let's get the things we need mei mei. I think we might want to be getting back soon."

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The spot lights above cast harsh light onto the dark alley. Everything touched by it glowed in a harsh blue white, and everything outside of the light was cast into inky black shadows.

River stared up into the light as Jayne leaned back against the trash bin they were using as cover. He inched his way to the edge of the large metal box and stared out into the alley. Steve was sitting there, just a few feet away, an' he was sure he could reach the gun 'fore he got shot. As that thought filtered across his brain two shots rang off the side of the trash bin.

Okay, he was mostly sure he could reach his gun 'fore he got shot. Jayne squatted down and gave the alley one more look before he kicked his leg out into the open and towards his recently discarded gun. This was gonna be the last time he drops his gun on a job, 'specially since it was just to get the crazy girl out of harms way. The toe of his boot barely scraped against the barrel of the gun.

With a deep growl, he pulled his leg back to the relative safety of the trash container they were hidden behind. Muttering a curse under his breath, he glared at his gun for a good long minute. Life sure was all kinds of fair, losin' his gun, getting' pinned down with crazy, getting' left behind by Mal an' Zoe. Yup, day was shapin' up to be just great! He turned to fully face his gun. Giving it one last good stare down he took a deep breath and lunged out into the open.

His hand wrapped around the barrel of his gun as a bullet hit the ground in front of him, sending a small amount of dirt into his face. With a grimace he pushed himself back to his original spot behind the trash container, gun in hand.

Jayne checked over Steve to make sure nothin' got broke when he fell to the ground. He breathed a small sigh of relief when the gun was fine, not even all that dirty from the fall. He liked this gun, been with him since just 'fore Miranda and it'd served him well at Mr. Universe's place. Hell it was almost as good as Vera, woulda been a mite upset somethin' happened to it.

Jayne looked at River, who stayed crouched down next to him. "Too much to ask that ya brought a gun?"

"No touching guns unless it's to save the crew."

Jayne growled at that. Stupid Mal, wouldn't even let the girl go on a job less'n it was just as a gorram alarm, never let her do anything 'dangerous'. It was a gorram waste of a government created super weapon if ya asked him, which no one did!

"Right…" Jayne nodded grimly and chanced one more look into the alley.

The Fed car continued to hover above them, the sound of two other aircraft landing nearby not lost on the two.

Jayne's eyes were plastered to the ever darkening sky above them, hoping he could see where the two other car's were landing so they could maybe go the other way. "That don't sound good."

River stared up into the sky as well, her hair whipping around her face as the bullets continued to fly in the alley next to them.

"We gotta get outta here girl." He said as his eyes scanned the alley for a way to escape their current problem.

River leaned around Jayne, her eyes scanning the alley for a moment. The Math came to her instantly, like breathing came to a newborn or a fish takes to water. This was what her mind was made for. Analyzing a problem and fixing it.

"Two Federal Alliance vehicles landed at the right end of the alley." Jayne stopped scanning the area to stare at the small girl next to him.

She cocked her head to the side for a moment before pointed to the building next to them. Jayne stared up to where she was pointing. There, silhouetted by the Fed's spot lights, was a group of about five men.

"Double cross."

"Well, that ain't suprisin'." He looked back to River, who was staring at him with wide and waiting eye's.

"What?"

"Now what?"

"Why ya askin' me?"

"We need a plan."

"Hell, my plan's to not get shot! I don't know 'bout you but that's all the plannin' I need."

River's face scrunched up in confusion. She shooks her head and leaned around Jayne, pointing to a large rundown building across from them. Jayne's eyes followed her outstretched arm. "Old, abandoned." She turned back to Jayne. "We can go through there. Lead us away from the gun fire…"

"And the Fed's." Jayne finished for her. He grinned and nodded in agreement. Building weren't that far, they could make it an' odds were they wouldn't get shot if they ran quick enough, especially if'n the guys on the roof kept shootin' into the main alley and didn't look over to where they were.

Jayne turned and looked back out to where Mal and Zoe were pinned down. "Okay," he turned to look back over to the old building then down to River "you stay behind me."

River nodded her consent as Jayne moved around her and to the other end of the trash bin. "Last thing I need is you gettin' your skinny ass shot" he muttered to himself.

----------------------------------------------------

Mal glared up into the bright spot lights of the Fed's car, a special kind of anger filling his body.

Zoe blinked against the dirt the engines of the hover car above them kicked up and looked into the alley once again. River and Jayne were no where to be seen, somethin' she decided to take as good news, an' the shootin' had died down thanks to the Fed's.

"Sir."

Mal's head snapped to his side, a cold look in his eyes.

Zoe just nodded her head in the direction of the Mule. "Three sir."

Mal gave Zoe a small smile before they both stood, guns drawn and aimed in the general direction the firin' had come from earlier.

The two soldier's stood shoulder to shoulder, backs to the Mule, as they made there way down the alley. Gun fire, although less heavy then it began, still filled the alley. Shots pinged off of nearby walls barely missing the two.

Zoe lowered her gun and jumped into the Mule as soon as she could, moving to the controls. Mal was a good pilot but he had nothing on Wash, and if there was one thing Zoe had learned from all her time at the helm with her late husband it was how to drive.

Mal moved around the opposite side of the Mule gun still raised. The gun fire remained clustered to the middle of the alley, where the Branning brothers were still pinned down. Seemed the two groups had little interest in the crew of Serenity, which was honestly a refreshing change of pace for them.

The Mule took off out of the alley as soon as Mal had climbed on, and as soon as the light from the Fed car faded away Mal allowed himself to relax a bit. Didn't seem like they was in a chasin' mood, which boded well for them. "Radio Simon on the ship, tell him to get the bay opened and call Kaylee and 'Nara back."

Zoe grabbed up the radio and was met with nothing but static. "I'm not gettin' anything sir."

"What?"

"Radio's down."

"No! No, Kaylee said she'd fix the comms 'fore she left."

"She said she'd fix the Cortex feed 'fore she left, didn't say anything about the comms."

Mal glared at the passing scenery, they needed to get the whole crew back so they could leave as soon as possible. Longer time they spent planet side there're more things that could go wrong, an' the last they needed was for more to be goin' wrong on 'em.

"Can we radio the shuttle from here?"

Zoe squinted against the rushing wind. "No, sir."

Mal let his head fall back against the headrest of the passenger seat. "Figures. Okay we get back, send 'em a wave, they should get it quick enough, an' as soon as River n' Jayne get back we're gone, spent enough time here already."

----------------------------------------------------

The door splintered and cracked flying open with little effort. One well placed foot or shoulder and the door might as well not even be there for all the good it did.

Jayne scanned the room, gun at the ready. He cautiously entered the room, giving it another scan as he walked into it.

River walked after him ever graceful, even in her giant combat boots. Jayne finished scanning the next room over before turning back to River.

"No one's here." She said in a small voice. The way she said it made him feel like she weren't really talkin' to him but more to the room itself. It was unsettlin' to say the least.

He looked at her angrily. Hell, he was all kinds of pissed so glarin' at her only angrily and not much worse were a sign of great restraint on his part. "Why didn't you tell us they was comin'?"

Rivers head snapped to look over at Jayne. She studied him for a moment, as if she was trying to figure out the best way to word her answer, or maybe just the simplest way to word it, she was talking to Jayne after all. "Wasn't listening to them. Captain wanted to know the others thoughts, so I was concentrating on them." She said staring at the big man who was armed and glowering at her. "When I stopped listening to them I heard the others."

"Oh yeah, lotta good that did us!" Jayne shouted and moved away from her toward the door on the other side of the room. "Pinned down by a bunch of ruttin' farmers with the Fed's right on there heels."

"It's not my fault." She stated firmly. He was becoming very annoying.

"No, but you could have warned us! Hell, what's the point of being a mind reading genius if'n you ain't gonna do any mind readin'?"

River simply glared at Jayne, not feeling it necessary to even try arguing with him.

"That's what I thought." He smiled smugly and left out the door.

River followed after him glaring at his back the entire way. It was times like this she really wished she could kill him with nothing more then her brain. "Ben tian sheng de yi dui rou."

Jayne stared behind him at River. "What?"

She looked up at him, her face a mask of indifference. "What are we doing now?"

Jayne frowned down at her. He knew she just said somethin' mean. "We're headin' to the docks like Mal told us to." He explained to her as if she was a small, very stupid child.

He turned and began walking again, her eyes following after him. He could just feel her glaze cutting into his back, or maybe it was burning into his back. Gorramit, he didn't care what it was doin' just that she was doin' it and it was buggin' him.

He groaned as the sound of yelling became clearer and clearer. Just his luck, he was stuck with the crazy girl on the wrong side of a wall of angry village folk and a bunch of cops.

"Great…"

----------------------------------------------------

Kaylee and Inara left the aircraft store, several bags in hand, and began making there way to Inara's shuttle.

A large crowd was gathered in the middle of the street, yells filling the air around them.

"What's goin' on?"

Inara shook her head to Kaylee's rhetorical question. "I don't know." She turned to look at Kaylee. "Why don't you take these bags to my shuttle and I'll see if I can find out what's happening."

Kaylee nodded and took the two bags Inara had been caring and continued towards her shuttle.

Inara moved towards the bustling, and obviously angry, crowd. She scanned the mass of people until she spotted several local and not so local law enforcement officers.

"Excuse me?" She asked, instantly slipping into her companion roll. She gave the local officer a brilliant smile as he turned to her. "I was wondering if you could tell me what was going on?"

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about, ma'am, just had a bit of trouble in town today with some illegal imports. We're settin' up a few check points 'round the city."

"Oh, well, my ship is in the docks."

"Don't worry, ma'am. We'll have the whole thing sorted out 'fore tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" She asked in disbelief "But, isn't that quite a long time?"

The young man smiled at her. "Sorry, ma'am, but it's the best we can do. You can start makin' your way through the check points, but odds're you ain't gonna make it back to your ship 'fore they shut down the docks."

Inara stared at the young man before her, this was bad. "Thank you." She said quietly before moving away towards her shuttle and Kaylee.

They were in trouble, and that meant Mal would do something very stupid. It was his way. When he was in trouble, he either did something extremely brave or something insanely stupid.

Inara stared at the blocked off roads and the surging crowds, held back by a small wall of Alliance soldiers all of whom were armed. "Oh, I hope he hasn't gotten himself shot."

----------------------------------------------------

"Gorramit! I wish I'da gotten shot!" Mal yelled as he stared at the few patrol men stationed at the edge of the docks. "Woulda been less trouble then all'a this!"

Three police stood, a small road block between them. The Fed backup must have been caught up at the moment, woulda been a much bigger road block and a good deal more men had they been there. Good thing they had gone the long way 'round, the roads must've been blocked to high heaven they'da gone through town.

"Only three of them sir, we could plow through. Serenity ain't that far in."

Mal nodded grimly, this weren't lookin' to be one of there better days. "We don't get to the ship soon…"

"We ain't leavin." Zoe finished for him.

"Do it Zo'." Mal ordered, sitting back in his seat.

Zoe revved the Mules engine and charged towards road block. The police got out of the way as the Mule crashed through the small road block, sending small bits of wood flying.

The Mule sped along the dock and towards Serenity, Mal punching in the bay doors opening code as they got near.

Simon walked out of the infirmary at the sound of the bay doors opening. He stood in the doorway of the cargo bay and watched as the Mule pulled in. Mal jumped out of the passenger seat and marched towards the stairs.

"What happened?"

Mal continued to march up the stairs and pointedly ignored the doctor.

"What happened!" Simon asked again, louder and a good deal more annoyed then before.

"Deal went South, as usual." Zoe offered stepping down from the Mule, and moving towards the stairs to follow Mal.

"No, Zoe, this weren't exactly usual." Mal shouted over his shoulder, taking the steps two at a time. "We usually get shot at, we usually get double crossed. Hell, we even got to run from the Feds some of the time, but we ain't ever gotten split up. Not like this."

Simon stared after the two, only half way up the stairs himself. "The Feds...what happened?"

"Not rightly sure." Zoe turned to look at the doctor as he entered the mess hall hot on her heels. She stared at him as stoic as ever as Mal stormed onto the bridge. "Just know we got fired at then the Feds showed up."

"Zoe! Bridge now. We're leavin'." Mal shouted from the front.

"Wait, what! What about the others? We can't just leave them!" Simon was frantic; there was no other way to describe it.

He was scared for River. This was exactly why she shouldn't go on runs with them; it wasn't safe. They had been fired at, and then the Feds had showed up. He seriously doubted that whoever decided it was a good idea to shoot at the crew would much care about one young girl, and the Alliance didn't exactly share a love for the Tam siblings.

"Simon, we don't leave now. We ain't gonna." Mal told the doctor, in the calmest voice he could muster. He felt for the doctor. He understood how hard it must be for him. He wasn't just leavin' the girl he cared for behind, but his mei mei as well, an' who knew if she's okay or not. "Feds been tightenin' down on the planets they feel they got a claim to ever since Miranda an' you know that."

Zoe took the second controls as Mal started getting Serenity ready to fly.

"They're bound to be shuttin' down the docks an' doin' searches." Mal continued to explain to the doctor.

"They might've seen the Mule. If they did, we're as good as dead they search us." Zoe added, a hint of anxious fear in her eyes, betraying her usually stoically calm attitude in tense situations.

"We take off, head to one of Harvest's moons an' hold out 'till they relax some. We'll be back to pick up the others 'fore you know it, Doc."

Simon looked from Mal to the view of the grassy rolling hills out of the front window. Large black clouds were gathering on the horizon, and Simon couldn't help but feel that they echoed his mood perfectly.

He breathed out and stood a little straighter as Mal flipped the three overhead switches and Serenity took off.

The ship rose into the air with no problems, something Mal was very excited about, meant the Alliance hadn't gotten to land lockin' anyone, which meant they hadn't gotten to sending out any patrol to stop ships from leavin'.

Mal allowed himself a small smirk. They'd gotten the pay, the Fed's didn't catch 'em, and he hadn't gotten shot. All in all it was lookin' to be one of their finer days.

The ship entered atmo, a might bit smoother then it entered too. As the ship continued through it began to shake viciously.

"I remember this part." Mal muttered under his breath.

The ship bucked violently and began to shake harder. "I think this is worse then before." Zoe shouted over the sound of the ship's shaking.

As they left atmo, the shaking came to an end and was replaced by something that Mal compared to being shot. The ship gave one more fierce buck, and everything went black.

"What the hell just happened?"

------------------------------------------

"She's gonna shake apart 'Nara!" Kaylee was anxiously pacing, wringing her hands in front of her and sniffling as she tried to fight back tears. "Without the parts she needs the ship aint gonna make it much furthern' atmo at the best…. An' at worse…"

"Kaylee." Inara cut her off before she could let the images of the worse case scenario play out in her mind. The companion walked over to the still pacing girl and took her by the shoulders. "I'm sure they're fine. They always are." She offered a small smile to the frazzled girl as she sat her down on the couch in her shuttle.

"Yeah, always." Kaylee said bitterly, angrily wiping at the tears she couldn't keep in. "'Cept the time Capn' got shot, or the time River, Simon an' Jayne got caught by the Feds, or the time the Cap'n died, or the time Zoe got thrown 'cross the room and was knocked out for more'n a day, or the time…"

"But they're all still here." Inara again cut her off.

Inara had this dance memorized. This is what happened when something went horribly wrong, which was pretty much all the time, so she was ready for it each time. Kaylee would cry and blame herself, or just cry and think up the worse possible thing that could happen, and Inara would comfort her. Inara would sooth the girl's overly worried mind, which would help sooth her own overly worried mind. Comforting Kaylee, making her calm, brought calm over Inara that no amount of meditating could in these situations. If it weren't for Kaylee, Inara would be the one pacing the room and fighting back tears.

"They're all still here, and perfectly fine Kaylee." Inara offered Kaylee a sweet smile, one she saved for use with her family on Serenity. No client or fellow companion was ever privileged to this smile. Well, Mal had never seen it either, but that was for completely different reasons. "If I know anything, it's Malcolm Reynolds ability to live through anything…He's like a cockroach that way."

Kaylee sniffled lightly and gived Inara a watery smile. "Ain't nice to be comparin' him to bugs," She wiped at her watery eyes with the sleeve of her mostly clean coveralls. "'Specially since he could be floatin' up in atmo in itty bitty pieces."

Inara gave Kaylee another one of her smiles and pulled the girl in for a hug. She laid her cheek against the top of Kaylee's head and rubbed comforting circles on her back. "A cockroach can live for a week without its head."

Kaylee gave out one small sad snort of laughter and smiled at that.

"I'm sure they're fine Kaylee." Inara squeezed the girl a little tighter in what she hoped could pass for a hug considering their position and already tight embrace. "Watch, everything will turn out just fine."

----------------------------------------------------

"Everything's gone to hell!" Jayne shouted over his shoulder to the small girl following him.

Jayne stomped toward the docks, plowing through the bustling crowd. River following in the wake his larger form created.

They had marched straight to the dock, just like the captain ordered. Through more'n there fair share of Feds and check points and the whole gorram trip was starting to wear on Jayne's last nerve.

He was fuming, furious, livid even. Ain't two ways about it Jayne was pissed. Took him an' the girl damn near an hour an' a half of walkin' to get to the gorram docks, a trip that took a matter of ten minutes on the Mule. Granted it mighta had somethin' to do with all the check points, but that weren't the point! Point was he had spent entirely too much time tryin' to get back to the gorram ship, an' all thanks to some ju tou farmers and the yang gui zi Alliance.

His strides began to lengthen and pick up in speed as they neared Serenity's docking spot. The sooner he got on the boat, the sooner they could take off and he could be done with this whole ruttin' thing. He turned the last corner and came to an immediate halt which caused River to almost collide with him.

"Where the hell is the gorram ship?"

TBC

The only way to write is to listen to the Firefly soundtrack non-stop and type like mad, that's what I learned last night.

Okay folks, what do you think? Be honest, it'll help make me better.


	3. Of Dark Ships, Gardens, and Bar Fights

Title: Of Dark Ships, Secret Gardens, and Bar Fights

Series: Bad Blood (previously called Untitled)

Pairing: It's going to have a bit of all the canon, plus Rayne!

Rating: PG-13 (may be R later on)

Disclaimer: If I owned them, Rayne would have been cannon long before now and I'm pretty sure there would be less awkward sexual tension between Mal and Simon…

Author's Notes: Okay, to those that have been reading my journal this is no surprise, but this chapter is only half as long as it was originally intended to be (and at over 5,000 words this sucker is the longest chapter yet (and in only half its glory))

I have a long pointless rant about things that happened while writing this chapter (and if you just want to get to the story you can scroll down past the first dotted line and just skip my crazy rambling.

((skip this if you don't care about my semi coherent ramblings))

(((Seriously now, this is going to be kind of long, you might be better off just skipping it)))

I want you all to know I named my computer Herbert when I got him around 3 years ago. For no real reason other then I find the name amusing and that it means bright (my computer glows) and thus this is the only reason I named the Steg. that (he glows too!) It was almost Fredrick or Donald (the first means peaceful ruler and then second ruler of the world, both fitting for Wash's little 'This Land' story.) but I fought the urge to use either of those, the second meaning of Herbert is excellent army or ruler so I still have that meaning in there. Part of me wishes I had named him something different (a lot of people name him Herbert) but it fit so I went with it.

That was a really long and fairly pointless little peek into how much thought I put into the most pointless of things…I should have spent all that time working on my art project so I didn't get a C on it, but eh, working on the pointless bits of my story is far more fun!

I want you all to know that I really wanted to end it at "With that he pulled the trigger." Because I thought it would be funny. But I had all the action written already so I just kept going (because, while I am mean, I'm not THAT mean.)

And I must come clean, I don't write action. I just can't do it. I see it in my head but blah...it just turns out blah. So I decided that this go round I would just write down exactly what I wanted it to look like, and then go back and try to make it flow a little better. I decided the best way to do this was to listen to music that got me in the action mindset while I wrote. So I listened to rock, metal, hard rock, movie soundtracks, techno. Nothing, nadda, zip, zilch, bupkiss. I was getting no where and quick with that idea so I decided to put it on random and just do the best I could.

So I struggled a bit, and the action fought back I aint gonna lie, then bam...this one song came on and it just started flowing. So I listened to that one song on loop while I wrote the bar fight and it ended up pretty okay if I do say so myself (especially compared to what I usually get for action). What is the name of the song, you may be asking. Well that's the thing...as embarrassing as it is (and it is embarrassing) I can't NOT share. It was Ashlee Simpon's "La La"...how the hell a bar fight with River and Jayne come from "La La" is beyond me, but it did...and I'm not questioning it. Although I did go back and re-edit the fight while listening to 'Smack my Bitch up' and the Firefly soundtrack.

This one is dedicated to Rach, here's hoping a glowing dino named Herbert can make ya smile!

It's 5,562 words baby, it's a longin'! Major thanks to the best beta ever Kim, sorry about my present ping-ponging.

Okay enough of my rambling! Please review.

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It smelt a bit like burnt hair with a hint of sour milk and old urine. Basically, it smelt like every other seedy bar he'd ever been in. Actually, he may have been in this one before come to think of it. He never was one to remember the bars he'd seen the inside of; made it a habit to pass out and forget everything that happened the night before.

This was exactly the reason he was there now. He needed alcohol, and he needed it now.

Jayne slapped a few credits on the bar top, not looking at anything or anyone around him. "Give me something."

The barkeep looked from the money peaking out from under Jayne's hand and up to Jayne. "What do you want?"

Jayne finally made eye contact with the barkeep, a look that was somewhere between anger and disbelief on his face. "Do I look like I care? Just make sure it can get me drunk!"

The barkeep studied Jayne for a moment before grabbing a nearby bottle. He figured it was a good idea to give the big man something strong, but not too expensive. Odds were this man would rip him a new one if he thought he was having one pulled over on him.

River pushed open the door to the bar, a cloud of smoke and the putrid smell of the bar floating outside as she stepped in. She scrunched her nose up at the initial smell and scanned the bar for Jayne. Well, she didn't actually scan the whole bar for Jayne as much as she scanned the actual bar; she knew exactly where the mercenary would be and what he would be trying to do.

River walked in, each step precise and graceful, artfully dodging all of the deeply discolored and wet spots on the floor. Just because she may have had on her large combat boots, it didn't mean she wanted to touch the floor any more then she had to.

Jayne quickly downed his first drink, noting the slight burn as it went down. He slammed the glass back onto the bar top and glared ahead of him. Gorram farmers, gorram Feds, gorram Mal! What the hell was he supposed to do now? Sit tight and wait to get picked up?

Jayne turned to fix River with a glare. Brown met blue as their eyes locked onto one another.

River tilted her head to the side and studied him closely, an odd expression on her face. It didn't take him long to realize he knew that look; took him even less time to realize that expression on her face weren't all that different from the one her brother gave him once they had first gotten back to Serenity from Ariel.

He didn't like that look. Full of trust and a little adoration, that look meant she was depending on him to save her. Hell, it meant she was depending on him period. He never had to look out for anyone but himself before, and ain't like he would ever admit it, but it scared him a little.

Jayne was good at one thing, damned good at it, part of the reason he was so good was because all he ever worried about was him. He didn't have any outstanding moral code to follow like Mal. Hell, most of the time he didn't even think he had a conscience. Weren't until he found himself on Serenity that he began to realize he did have one, and, damnit all to hell, if he wasn't beginning to developed a gorram moral code too. He had begun to deny it and ignore the ever growing feelings and second thoughts that had plagued him ever since Higgins Moon when that kid took a bullet for 'im.

As he glared at River, he realized that this was it. Him stuck here with the only just recovered crazy girl was the last challenge for him. He was faced with a choice. He could watch and protect her, like he knew Mal would, or he could ditch her first chance he got and cement the self centered, unbelievable son of a bitch persona he had grown over the years.

Damn it all, he really didn't like that look.

----------------------------------------------------

It was still and stiflingly black. The kind of black that made your skin crawl, that seemed to amplify ever little sound. It was unnerving and the feeling of foreboding hung in the air around them.

"Why ain't the lights turning on?" an incredulous captain asked in the general direction of where he had last seen Zoe.

"Backup must have blown."

"Do we have any power?" Simon asked, making sure to hold onto the door frame, he didn't want to go wondering into the room and smashing into anyone, and he wanted to go crashing down the stairs only a few feet behind him even less.

"Don't...anybody…move!" Mal announced to the whole of his crew, well the whole of his crew that happened to be on the boat. "I'm gonna get a flashlight."

Mal pushed back in his chair and turned towards the cabinet to the side of him. It was times like this he was glad they decided to put that handy dandy little device on the bridge.

He stood and took two, very sure, steps towards the cabinet only to come in close, and particularly hard, contact with the wall. He muttered a curse at his now throbbing foot before he reached out in front of him. Feeling his way along the wall he shuffled over to the cabinet.

With a proud 'ha,' he pulled the flashlight out, "Don't worry, I've got the flashlight." He announced again and flipped the switch. "Hell…"

"What happened? Why didn't you turn it on?"

"I did turn it on…."

"Then why isn't there any light?"

"Probably because it isn't working!" Mal glared in the general direction from which Simon's voice had come. He turned his face back down to the flashlight, not that it would do any good he couldn't see anything in the dark, and tried to fuss out what exactly had gone wrong with it.

"The batteries dead, sir?"

"Must be…Where are the spare batteries?"

"In the engine room, sir." Zoe answered sadly.

Mal looked from the flashlight in his hands to where Zoe's voice was coming from and finally to where he knew the door leading down to their rooms, and eventually the engine room, was.

Who the hell decided the engine room was the best place for the spare batteries? They had lots of room in the cabinet. As soon as they got the power back on he was stashing some batteries in the cabinet next to the flashlight. "Well, this is a fine mess."

"Yes, sir." Zoe said calmly from the second's seat.

"What are we going to do?" Simon cut in before Zoe could say anything more. "We can't just sit around in the dark and hope something will happen."

"Listen, Doc, I know your upset because we had to leave your mei mei and Kaylee planet side, but you gettin' testy with me ain't helping in this particular circumstance. Dong ma? We need to relax and figure out how to get some light. We'll work from there."

The small room stayed deathly silent, that wonderful foreboding still hanging in the air.

"Just so we're clear an all…that was my way of saying you two need to come up with something because all I got was the flashlight idea." Mal mentioned.

Suddenly, a slight orange glow came from the controls in the front. It was an odd shaped glow, but a glow none-the-less and Mal weren't about to argue with any type of light he could get.

"Is that a dinosaur?" Simon asked in his usual confused and completely disbelieving tone.

"Wash's second stegosaurus lights up." Zoe offered as she began to walk towards the doorway, slowly but surely.

"Why would a stegosaurus light up?" He continued questioned quietly, knowing no one was really paying any attention to him.

Honestly, he wasn't paying much attention to himself. He needed to get his mind off of what was happening so he wouldn't panic. River and Kaylee were still on Harvest, and the Alliance was there as well. River had gotten into a gun fight and may be lying bleeding in that alley Mal and Zoe left her in for all he knew. They could have all been kidnapped, or arrested. He didn't put it past the crew to have the worse thing happen to them at any given time; they were lucky that way.

"Who care's why it glows? Point is it glows, and that gives us a little something to work with." Mal was happy, okay not happy, but relieved. At least, now, they could move about without fallin' all over themselves and walkin' into walls and the like.

"Figure we can use Herbert here to get us to the kitchen, we've got the lighter and a few candles in there." Zoe said as she walked past Mal.

"Right, well you go and do that and…Simon and I will stay here. No point in the three of us going; won't all be able to use that light to see where we're headed."

Zoe gave Mal a sharp nod before moving past Simon and toward the kitchen. The two men stood in complete silence as Zoe slowly made her way to the kitchen. It wasn't a comfortable silence, what with the foreboding and all, and it was making Mal a bit twitchy.

"So…" Mal said as conversationally as possible, "at least I didn't get shot."

----------------------------------------------------

The shuttle landed quietly at the edge of a beautiful garden. Large lush bushes and tree's so tall it seemed as though their branches alone were holding up the darkening sky created a wall between the landing area and the regal houses on the other side.

The Harvest training house was known throughout the 'Verse for its immaculate gardens. Though the meager descriptions that the few who had seen them could supply did them no disservice, they were incorrect. The gardens were more breathtakingly beautiful then any could ever describe.

"Oh, look at all the colors! It's like somethin' outta a fairytale…" Kaylee gasped, her eyes constantly moving not wanting to miss even one little detail about anything around her. "I mean…I've dreamt of fancy places an' all, but they ain't got nothin' on this."

"It is a little different than we're used to, isn't it?" Inara smiled as she continued towards the training house, Kaylee a good distance behind her still trying to see and memorize everything.

"A little 'Nara? I can't even tell ya the last time we landed somewhere that weren't a desert. Most foliage I ever see is a tumble weed."

"Well, not all places can be as blessed as here." Came an even and sultry voice from just behind Inara. There stood a beautiful young woman with perfect red curls spilling around her shoulders.

"Lyssa, it's been too long." Inara said placing a kiss on both of her cheeks.

Kaylee flashed her megawatt smile at the two Companions. They looked so regal, their long silk dresses catching the light and fluttering in the slight breeze. Small shimmers of sun broke through the quickly clouding sky and helped make the two seem ethereal.

Kaylee felt like she was intruding. It was such perfect a scene, and, when she glanced down to her slightly greasy overalls, she felt it even more so out of place.

"Come, we should move inside before our wonderful weather decides to let itself be known." Lyssa said with a smile before she turned and began to make her way up the stairs and into the training house.

Inara smiled after her old friend and began to follow her up the stairs, only pausing for a moment halfway up to look back to Kaylee. "Coming in?"

Kaylee nodded mutely from the middle of the long pathway that lead to the stairs Inara was standing on. She felt awkward, like she did when she went over to her mammy's. Always knew she weren't allowed to touch nothin', had to keep it all clean, an' she tried real hard to do it too, but she always did seem to be trackin' dirt with her no matter what. Mammy always said even after a bath she was dirtier then any a' the boys. Right now, she never felt it to be truer.

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River was entirely focused on Jayne and his sobriety, calculating in her head how each glass of cheap whiskey was affecting him. She watched as Jayne threw back another shot, at this rate he would succeed in getting himself drunk in an hour or so. He either needed to start drinking faster or start on a more potent drink if he wanted to be drunk now, like he said he did.

Throwing back one more drink Jayne realized he wasn't getting drunk nearly quick enough. Deciding that he needed a break from his internal debate, Jayne took to glaring at the reflection of himself and River in the mirror behind the bar. She was perched on the edge of the bar stool next to him staring intently at his shoulder.

He couldn't blame her; one look around the place and he knew every pair of eyes would be glued to her, what with her being the only member of the fairer sex in the place. That and it wasn't like she had the pick of the veritable litter. Sure he was cocky, but anyone would tell you he was hands down the most attractive guy in the place. It couldn't be comfortable for her, and, hell, if he weren't so damn unhappy, he might even feel a little bad about it. As it was he was unhappy and he didn't feel bad, he actually didn't give a houzi de pigu how she felt.

The bar door swung open; and had it not been for River's tensing, Jayne wouldn't have paid any attention to it, but she did tense, and he did pay attention.

"Well, lookie here…"

This really was shaping up to be one hell of a day.

Suppressing the ever growing need to let loose every single curse word he had ever heard uttered, and Jayne had been to one end of the 'Verse to the other so he knew more then his fair share of curses, he turned and locked eyes with a man he never wanted to see again.

"I never thought I'd see you again you chun ge zhen de hundan." He took a step forward, around a particularly large and mean looking man, grinning like he had won something.

"Hey Marco…nice limp."

Marco's grin faltered as he stared down the man that had given him that limp. With a deep growl he pulled out a gun and took steady aim, right for Jayne's head. "Ain't exactly smart to be makin' fun of the man that's got a gun to your head."

"Yeah, well, I've never been one for smarts, parta the reason I stuck with your worthless ass as long as I did."

Jayne smirked at the man in front of him. Marco looked the same as he had when Jayne shot him right in front of Serenity's cargo bay years ago. Man shouldn't have been surprised by the fact that Jayne had shot him; that's what Jayne did. Actually he probably wasn't surprised he got shot by Jayne, he had probably been expectin' it; no the surprise came from the reason Jayne had shot him. The look said it all, Marco was killed by the fact he had got shot over a bigger bunk and full run of the kitchen. The extra three percent didn't even matter, switchin' for money could be respected by anyone in the business.

"Gun." Marco demanded, waving to his side. "Now, Jayne."

Jayne glowered, even more upset with the situation. Second time in one gorram day he was gonna be without his gun when he needed it. He grabbed Steve off of the bar top and tossed it to the side of the bar, well out of the reach of any of Marco's men. Weren't no way in hell he was gonna let one of those Chuin-zi touch his gun and chance gettin' shot by it. It was one of his rules, never get shot by your own gorram gun, and to this day it was the only rule he had yet to screw up and brake.

River sat unmoving next to Jayne. Thoughts flew around the room, plans and actions taking place before anyone would even dare to move, and she saw it all.

The men behind Marco were waiting for him to give an order, his brand new crew. It had taken time to find new people, after what Jayne had done, Marco took his time. It was hard to find good help after all, especially when you didn't want to pay them. Marco was waiting for Jayne to make a move, and Jayne was waiting for Marco. It was a standoff with only one gun drawn.

The area was known for its seedy bars, mostly thanks to the docks being so nearby, and so anyone that visited there knew how to act in situations like this. They ran like mad. Many began to file out when the group of five men entered. The rest of the patrons began to file out as soon as the gun had been drawn.

Only when all of the other people had left the bar, all save the five men sharing a staring contest with Jayne, as well as the pair themselves and the bar's owner, who had taken refuge in his bullet proof office, did Marco even notice River. It was a good indicator of how angry Marco was with Jayne that he didn't even notice the only female in the bar, especially one as cute as her.

"Who the hell is she?"

Jayne's stare faltered, he risked a glance over to River and back again as he tried to come up with a reason the girl was sitting with him, even as a gun was aimed at his head. "She's…ummm…huh." Yeah, he had nothing.

Marco flashed a crooked grin at River, who had finally turned to look at the men in front of her. "Damn, Jayne, she's cute. You sailin' with her?"

Jayne just glared at Marco, a glare that sent many men running for the hills. It, in fact, did not send Marco or his men running, but it did knock that stupid grin off of his face.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." Marco continued, again turning back to River. She was after all a good deal less scary then Jayne. "Do you know who you're sailin' with, sweetheart?"

River quirked an eyebrow, her face the picture of confused disgust, at not only the question and endearment, but the way he had said it.

"Jayne Cobb, the man that puts the 'me' in mercenary."

River shot Jayne a disbelieving stare as he winced at the words like he was in pain as Marco continued. The 'me in mercenary'? Who said that?

"He's the biggest, meanest gun for hire outside the core. He'd be an even bigger name 'cept he's got this little habit where he's always back stabbin' the men he works fore and flies with. Which begs the question…what the hell are you doin' with a girl, Jayne?" Marco finished staring at Jayne, completely and utterly confused at the thought of Jayne travelin' with anyone that wasn't payin' him. Then again she might be paying him, but, if she were, why the hell didn't he say that? Jayne wasn't the type to try and protect anyone who hired him, not unless she wasn't paying him until whatever deal they had worked out was over and done. Even then, that didn't sound like a job Jayne would take, he was a payment up front kind of guy, unless it was transporting cargo and selling it off, then its payment upon delivery because no one would do it otherwise.

"You know me Marco, I love girls." Jayne answered with a smug grin.

"Yes, you do." The gun moved from being aimed at Jayne's head, to being aimed at River. "But not as much as you love yourself, you selfish son of a bitch."

With that he pulled the trigger.

The problem with the whole showdown was that Marco had been so focused on River, he had stopped paying attention to Jayne, and that's all Jayne had needed. As Marco moved the gun to aim at River, Jayne had moved so he could take care of the problem. One well-placed kick, as the insult left Marco's mouth, and River, along with her chair, were well out of the way of harm.

Marco didn't even have time to think as the stool on the opposite side of Jayne went flying towards him. Both he and his gun went tumbling to the ground as Jayne tackled one of the other men, all of whom he had expected would have drawn their guns by now. New crew was a bit slower than the last, but he wasn't about to complain about not having to deal with gettin' shot at.

River held onto the edges of the barstool with a white knuckled grip. She should have been paying more attention to what Jayne was thinking instead of the others; at least, then, she would have been ready to be sent sliding across the room.

Jayne smirked to himself as two men, one only half his size, lunged at him. He dodged the small one and punched the big one across the face. Turning, he grabbed at the nearest thing he could find, a pool ball. He turned back and smashed it into the smaller man's face, the sound of breaking bone accompanying it. Letting the ball fall to the floor Jayne turned towards the taller man, who lunged at him. With little effort on Jayne's part he sent the man flying through the air.

River quickly leaned to the left in her chair, narrowly avoiding the flailing body Jayne had just sent soaring. She looked from the man heaped on dirty floor next to her to the two men moving towards Jayne and lastly towards the third man, who had stood in the back of the group. He was the dangerous one, the killer. The other two had fought and killed, but not like him. The others were paid to kill this man lived for it.

The man grabbed for the large hunting knife strapped to his hip and started to make his way towards Jayne, who was currently wielding a pool cue against the other two. River looked from the man to Jayne and back again. Before even realizing what she was doing, River pushed down on the seat of her chair rising up in her seat. She kicked out and sent a table sliding towards the man. It hit him in the side, sending his knife to the ground. River let go of her seat and moved to stand between Jayne and the other man.

Jayne turned around to see River standing behind him. He groaned a little to himself, this day was most definitely getting steadily worse. The last thing he needed right now was her getting hurt. Then again, she had done this kind of thing before. He could attest to that with his overabundance of first hand experience to the fact that she had done this kind of thing before and was more then just good at it, and the odds of these idiots being able to stop her were slim. Hell, he had barely slowed her down in her first bar fight, and he was an expert in the subject of slowin' folk down. No power in the 'Verse could stop her and all; only problem with that was the fact that it only took one little bullet and no power in the 'Verse could save ya. If anyone landed even one punch to that girl, there would be hell to pay.

The man glared at River, and she stopped thinking. This was what she was made to do and thinking would only mess it up. The man ran at River with a yell, and Jayne turned to look. She spun around and clothes lined the man with her leg. He fell backwards, crashing to the floor in a heavy heap.

"Damn…" Jayne said standing in awe of how easily River had finished off the man.

Just then the smaller man crashed into Jayne's back. The pool cue he had been using earlier snapped in half where it was trapped between Jayne and the end of the pool table he had just been thrown into. Jayne threw his head back, hitting the other man in the head hard enough that he loosened his grip. Jayne grabbed a hold of the thinner half of the pool cue and stabbed it behind him, sending the wood deep into the shorter man's leg. With a pain filled scream, the man let Jayne go.

Jayne turned and punched the man sending him to the floor. He turned to look at River, who was only a few feet away from him. She felt the beginnings of a smile tug at the corners of her mouth as he grinned at her, obviously insanely impressed. River's eyes grew wide right before she sprinted towards Jayne, closing the few feet between them in only a few steps. She threw herself at him, knocking them both to the ground behind the bar just as gunfire erupted around them.

"Now, that just ain't right! Who the hell grabbed my gorram gun?" Jayne grimaced and pushed River off of him.

River put her back to the bar and edged towards the end of it. She leaned out and looked into the bar for a second before bullets began to rain around her. tThere were more now, three other men came to the rescue of their fair captain as soon as they heard the first shot. She pulled back quickly and took a deep breath. "Seven..." She looked to Jayne, who was staring at her.

"Guess Marco made a few more friends then I thought."

River pointed to the right of Jayne. "Three..." She pointed directly behind both of them towards the front of the bar. "two..." Then she pointed the left of Jayne. "and two..."

"Well...this didn't go too well. Sure could use some of that mind-reading you seem to have, can ya pick up anything useful off'a 'em?" He asked leaning out to try and see around the bar with no luck.

River looked down at the ground, not really seeing the ground, a mask of total concentration coming across her face. "The one in the back is angry...thinks the fight is stupid, he's ready to leave. One to the left is in pain, woozy, can't see straight...stick stuck in his leg." Jayne grinned a little hearing about his handy work "Bartender's angry his store is being shot up…again…."

Jayne cut her off. "Yeah, that's all real good ta know, but it ain't exactly useful to us now, is it?"

She stared at him for a moment and blinked. With a short nod, she turned to look out into the bar. "Loaded shotgun under the metal table to the left. Marco's pistol is in-between here and there, has half a clip left."

Jayne rolled his eyes, figured the man would come at him with only half a clip in his gun. No wonder the hwoo dahn had grabbed Steve off of the floor.

River spun around, still crouched down looking around the shelves of the bar in front of her. "But the bartender keeps a gun behind…" She pulled out a fully loaded handgun "the best whiskey in the house..." She turned to look at Jayne, who was grinning at her like mad. She couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Now, that's more like it..." She handed him the gun, and returned to her half squatting, half sitting position from before. "Okay, now, just...stay behind me, okay?"

She quirked an eyebrow at him as he moved to the edge of the bar, his reason for her being the one to hide lost on her.

He took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder at her. She was behind him, ready to go when he was. He briefly thought that her being able to know what he was about to do without him having to tell her was a great benefit in cases such as these, and could come in handy in the future, but the thought past quickly as he heard the voice of one of their attackers telling the others to move in. "Lets go..."

He stood up quickly, taking aim at the nearest man, and opened fire. The men all ran for cover as Jayne began to move towards the shotgun, he was after all a far better shot then they were. River stood behind him as he shot at their attackers and moved along with him, her small frame completely blocked by his larger one.

He continued to shoot at the seven men in the barroom, one stepping out from his hiding place just enough for Jayne to get a good shot. He took aim and squeezed the trigger and was rewarded with a satisfying click.

Well, it was satisfying if you were the guy he was aiming at.

"Ruttin' figures!" Jayne stared at his now empty gun in a mixture of disgust and anger.

The men in the bar all heard the guns empty click and started to move from their hiding places to take aim at the two. A small gasp escaped from River before she quickly moved in front of Jayne and kicked down on the edge of the metal table causing it to fly up on its end and shield the two of them from the gunfire that erupted around them.

River crouched down to the ground with her hands against her ears as the gunfire began again. The shots caused the table to start falling back. Jayne grabbed a hold of it trying to keep it from falling on top of them. He looked down at River with a hint of panic; the situation was not going very well, and the last thing he needed was her going crazy. River took a deep breath and held it in as she scanned the area around them as if she just realized where they were. Her eyes locked on the pistol on the ground only a few feet away from her. She peered around the corner of the table and scanned the room; she then looked up at Jayne. He looked down at her slightly confused.

"My turn..."

River again muttered under her breath right before she jumped out from behind the table. Too surprised by the move, Jayne said nothing, he could only watch as her hand closed around the handle of the gun and bullets fell around her. She rolled to a crouching position, took aim, and closed her eyes.

She fired on the seven men in the bar room and hit all but one. Jayne slowly looked around the corner of his 'shield' at the six dead bodies lying around him. The only one still standing was the man in the back of the group. Jayne looked at her with a scowl on his face. She missed one! Of course, wouldn't you know it, it couldn'tve been Marco so Jayne could take care of him. Jayne liked to take care of his own problems, they were his problems and it seemed only right to take care of 'em himself. It seemed more then a little wrong to let a little slip of a thing like River do it for him, he was big and manly and he could most definitely take care of his own problems. Then again, she seemed to have the situation under control better then he had, what with the her not hiding behind a table and all. Being a man of self preservation he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, River had taken out seven men all on her lonesome with little to no trouble at all, and that was damn impressive and all kinds of helpful to Jayne.

River's eyes were fixed to the front of the bar. "He's ready to leave..." She blinked and turned towards Jayne. "No reason to kill him." That's when he noticed a trail of red flowing down her arm

"Ching-wah tsao duh liao mang. You got hit!"

He dropped the table back onto the ground with a heavy, and very loud, thump. He quickly moved over and crouched down next to her. With a gentleness River hadn't expected from the man, he took a hold of her arm. Her brow furrowed, and she frowned at his touch, but didn't pull away from him like he half expected her to do. He studied the wound intently, but was shaken out of his current undertaking by the sound of Rivers quick intake of breath. He looked at her with questioning eyes; quick intakes of breath were never a good sign, but even worse when they came from her 'cause they tended to be followed by gunfire.

"He found you...not good..." She whispered eyes unfocused as she stared out the large front window of the barroom. She turned to Jayne; eyes meeting and conveying everything that needed to be said.

She said it out loud anyway because it made it more real that way. "We need to leave now."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

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TBC (hopefully in two weeks, I have a design project due next Monday and I haven't even started it)


	4. We've All Got Our Little Problems

Title: We've All Got Our Little Problems

Series: Bad Blood

Pairing: It's going to have a bit of all the canon, plus Rayne!

Rating: PG-13 (may be R later on)

Disclaimer: begins to sing, and sadly might I add If you wish upon a star...no matter who you are...your dream will come true! stops singing yeah right! Maybe if you don't wish to own them... pftt...

Author's Notes: I'll make this AN short, in some semblance of compensation as to the last chapters AN. To those three fine individuals that told me to keep going when I was ready to just quit, I thank you deeply. This chapter wouldn't be here if it weren't for the three of you so really this one is all yours.

This here is the biggest and baddest chapter yet, at a nice round number of 9,084 words I find myself overjoyed at getting this thing out to the world. It took a lot of pushing and pounding and just plain sitting there and typing some real crap to get to the parts that could pass as good, but here it is.

Thanks as always goes to mik109 for her beta mastery, thanks babe (and if you guys haven't read all of her stories you best hop to it because she's one of the best Rayne writers EVER!)

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They stood there, in the dead silent that always seemed to accompany the dark. How is it something that makes every sound seem bigger while helpin' drown it all out at the same time was beyond him, he just knew that's how it worked. He also knew that he had never been more anxious due to that silence, it was something he was always going on and on about trying to get, but now…now he would give anything to hear something.

Unfortunately the something he was most looking to hear was dead silent, and he remembered all too well what that meant.

"Do you think it's still moving?" came the calm and collected voice next to him, and he was thankful for the break from that silence he usually coveted.

Simon stood next to his captain, the man that had saved his life more then once, and in ways he couldn't even begin to list, thankful for the calming yellow glow the large candle in his had offered the all too quiet hallway. Ever the doctor when it came to life threatening ordeals, he stood completely calmly, and more so then that, completely still. It was his defense mechanism, he couldn't be afraid or even the slightest bit worried. He was the one they looked to to make them better, it wouldn't do to see that pillar of strength and sureness of purpose just float away and turn into fearful blubbering when something went wrong, which was always.

"Can't tell, the doors too thick." Simple answer for a situation that was anything but simple. That was her way, calm and collected. Ever waiting for her orders, the good little solider.

"Only one way to find out." The third answer, direct and too the point, because that's all he knew. He was the man in charge, the one they looked to, he gave 'em a purpose, a job. Wouldn't do at all to be not commanding when you were in charge of other people's lives. It's not captainy to not be the brave one, even if on the inside he was terrified that when they opened that door they would be greeted by a large hunk of rotatin' metal that weren't rotatin'.

With a deep breath, and a forceful tug, the engine room door slid open.

It was like the war all over, that's the only way he could describe it. In those few moments in Serenity Valley, as the sound of ships echoed overhead, right before the order to surrender sounded off. It was bliss. There she was, his girl, his baby, his salvation after then end, turning right and true like she'd done for most of her day's, and he almost thanked the lord that he no longer believed in for keeping her running.

Breathing a collective sigh of relief Mal decided to enjoy that silence he always wanted, the comfortable kind instead of what he had just been privy too, the kind that held only the gentle hum of an engine, and a quiet joy of his Doctor and Second. He decided he really did like silence.

"That mean's we still have life support." Simon stated for no real reason. The other two knew what Kaylee's girl still movin' meant, but he still had to say it. River was always saying that actually saying the words everyone knew made them more real, and right now he couldn't not believe her.

"If she's still movin' the why aint the power turnin' on?" Damn Jayne for not being here, this was his job. When there was a question everyone wanted to know the answer too he was the one that asked, and damn himself for takin' it upon himself to fill in for the merc.

"Whatever happened when we hit atmo musta taken out our power, both main and backup."

"But we have to have some power. The engine wouldn't be moving if we didn't have any power." Simon reminded the two.

Mal looked over the top of the engine to look at Simon, he had a point. With a small sigh Mal turned to look at his second, only a matter of inches behind him that calm and collected mask she wore when things weren't going well snapped into place, it really was starting to feel like the war.

"Do we know how to fix that?"

"We do sir, but not without those power coupling's Kaylee went out for."

"Don't tell me that Zo, I do not need to hear that. What I need to hear is 'its no problem Mal, we can fix it. Won't take but a sec.' I don't care if it's a lie, that's what I want to hear." He stared at Zoe, completely serious, eye's beggin' for a break from all the bad news he was used to getting'. "Now Zoe, can we fix it?"

"Odds are against us, but I'll see what I can do with it sir."

"Not exactly the answer I was askin' for but I'll take it."

"Kaylee aint gonna be happy when she gets back and finds her girl gutted."

"She'll live." Mal turned to Simon "Go grab that portable encyclopedia you've got Doc an' meet me in the bridge."

"What do we need the encyclopedia for?"

"We've got a communication system need's fixin', an' I don't know about you but I don't know the first thing 'bout the communication system. Figured that thing of your's might have a layout of it for us to work from. Lets get to work people, don't know how long our lucks gonna hold out."

With that Mal grabbed up a box of batteries and started to head back towards the kitchen. As he began to make his way down the hallway a loud thump echoed after him. "Damn it!" his pain filled voice shouted from the middle of the still black hallway.

Zoe and Simon shared a look over the engine.

"I told him he should have taken a candle."

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Inara stared out into the garden fixated on the swaying branches of the tree's that blocked off the rest of Harvest from the training house. She was deeply worried about everyone, and by everyone she meant mostly Mal. He never did well when it came to the Alliance and he'd been doing even worse after Miranda, though that was more of the Alliance having a problem with him then the other way around.

The Alliance had been making living free out in the black harder every year up until Miranda, now it was damn near impossible. A series of checkpoints run by fleets of Alliance ships had been set up around the core planets, and each checkpoint took longer then the last to move through. Unfortunately the Alliance was more then unforgiving when it came to the truth about the Reavers, which meant Serenity had to steer clear of anything even remotely near the core planets if they wanted to stay alive.

Kaylee walked towards the large room that Lyssa had said Inara was in. She had hardly wanted to touch a thing as she had entered the training house, kinda like when they had dropped 'Nara off what seemed like way back when. Thankfully after enterin' the house Lyssa had offered both of 'em time to freshen up, and even better then that she'd offered 'em both a change of clothes and a real honest to god bath.

Serenity was more then home to Kaylee, she loved the ship more then she's ever loved anythin', and so its with a heavy heart that Kaylee had to admit her girl weren't perfect. Water aint exactly cheap, an fillin' up a boat with enough to clean clothes and have water fer your sinks and toilets and the like was hard enough, let alone havin' enough for fully runnin' showers. So the smaller, older, and cheaper your boat was the less likely it was to have itself some nice runnin' showers. Unfortunately Serenity fell into all three categories, they had one little shower an' not near enough water to be able to take a regular bath.

That's why every time the ship landed for more then a few hours the crew all took to the nearest bath house. Every planet had one, a large house set up near the docks where folks could go and pay to use showers. The crew'd been doin' it for years and was used to taken off as soon as they could, cause odds of ya getting' to take a trip to the bathhouse after a job were less then likely the way their jobs usually went, but it'd taken Simon months to get used to not getting' ta shower every day.

So Kaylee decided to enjoy the chance of takin' a nice leisurely bath, somethin' even rarer then a shower. She only came out of the water when she was good and pruney, an' after chagin' she had gone to look for Inara, which brought her to the large room she was standin' outside of.

"Hey 'Nara."

Inara turned to look at Kaylee as a quiet clap of thunder echoed behind her. "Kaylee, you look happy."

"I'm as happy as a pig in poo." Kaylee beamed, barely containing her squeal of joy. "Oh, I should probably think of a nicer way a sayin' that, what with me lookin' all fancy an' all." She said givin' a little twist letting the dress twirl around her legs.

When she'd gotten done with her bath Kaylee had found a beautiful dress laid out for her to use. To say she was thrilled would be an understatement, no Kaylee wasn't thrilled she was beyond thrilled as she walked through the halls of the training house, finally feelin' like she weren't so out of place.

"You look gorgeous Kaylee."

"Yeah?" She beamed again "The girls cleaned me up and made me all pretty. This dress is even fancier then the one Capn' got me for that swanky shindig back on Persephone."

Inara couldn't help but smile at the girls infectious happiness, it was a welcome reprieve from worrying over Mal if she was being honest with herself.

"If only my ma could see me now, datin' a fine doctor an' hangin' 'round Guild run Companion houses." Kaylee continued as she walked towards the large window Inara was standing in front of. "She'd be speechless! Never thought I'd leave home 'til someone from town married me, let alone all'a this."

"I'm sure she would be very proud of you."

"Well about the Doctor and Companion thing yeah, she always did wish I was more girly." Inara's eyebrows rose at the thought. "Oh, you know. She always wished I done more girly things rather'n playin' in engines all the good long day." Kaylee grinned at Inara and turned to look out the large window as another clap of thunder rolled overhead.

"Whaddabout you 'Nara?" Kaylee looked over to the companion.

"What about me?"

"You never talk about your family. What're they like?" She asked leaning on the window frame so she could look at Inara. "Bet their fancy…just like Simon 'n Rivers family, all rich and fancy."

Inara smiled gently to Kaylee and turned to look out to where the young mechanic had just been gazing. "I'm sure they are."

Kaylee's bright smile faltered for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Inara looked back to Kaylee. "A Companion begins their training at the age of seven Kaylee. The Guild finds suitable candidates and recruits them. After that they are exclusively Companion's, our teachers and the other Companion's become your family until you are allowed to take clients as a regularly practicing Companion."

"So, that's it? They recruit ya, you say yes an' ya never see your family again?"

"It's the price one pays to become a Companion. To be recruited is an amazing honor very few would ever turn down." Inara explained turning to lean on the window frame like Kaylee was.

Kaylee sighed softly turning back out to look at the lush garden of the Companion training house. "I don't think I coulda ever done it."

"Kaylee I left my parents and the place where I had begun my life but I never lost my home, or my family. I just found a different home, with knew people that became my family, just like you did when you became Serenity's mechanic."

"Yeah but I weren't no kid when I left my home."

"Right because seventeen is an adult." Inara teased.

"I was eighteen!" Kaylee shot back scandalized. "'Sides that ain't no seven."

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He angrily threw his gun down on the bed of the small room. Grumbling he headed straight for the bathroom and grabbed the hand towel he knew would be there. He threw the small towel down into the sink and turned the water on, he needed to get to cleanin' up the girls arm 'fore it got infected or some such.

River stood in the doorway, surveying the small single bedded room they had just checked into. She took a few tentative steps into the room, her hand grazing over the freshly made bed, as she tried to soak in the lived in smell of the little single story hotel.

Roughly the same size as the mess in Serenity she felt oddly at home in the room. With a quiet sigh River wrapped her arms around herself and let her eyes slip close. The sound of thunder clapped quietly in the background and she wondered to herself if it was really thunder or just Jayne.

"Sit on the bed."

River's eyes slid open to stare at him. He was angry and when he was angry at anything or anyone it was better to just stay out of his way, and if you couldn't do that she had found that just doing what he said worked equally well. This and this alone, was the only reason she slid down to sit on the edge of the bed, she didn't want to make him any angrier then he already was.

Jayne stomped over to the bed and sat beside her. He glowered at the large sweater the girl was wearing. Well not the whole sweater, mostly just the arm of the sweater; the arm that happened to be covering up the girl's arm, which happened to be hiding a nice amount of blood from where she'd been shot.

As they had made their way from the bar and to the other side of the docks, and thus the hotel they were currently sitting, he had been more then glad for the large and obscuring piece of clothing. Anyone that had seen them hastily making their way towards the edge of town wouldn'tve given 'em a second thought, only sign the girl had been hurt at all was a small red splotch on the sleeve of her all too large sweater.

Which lead them to now; she was sitting straight and taller then he had ever imagined a person could sit and call themselves comfortable, but she'd just been shot so how comfortable could she possibly be? Then again she wasn't acting at all uncomfortable, maybe the blood on her arm hadn't been hers, or it hadn't been from a bullet from one lucky shot, and him havin' to tend to her was just craziness on his part.

No, it was from a bullet and it was most certainly her blood, he was sure of it. No way in hell were they lucky enough for her to have gotten out of that fight no worse for wear, especially considering how she had gotten them out of that fight.

The small girl sat next to the huge merc, staring at the wall on the opposite side of the room as he glared at the huge sweater sleeve, silently mulling over the idea of just ripping the offending garment off. He was sure they made quite the picture.

"It's not bad."

"What?" The girl's quiet response to the more then quiet silence that had fallen in the room snapped him out of his musings over how to get to her arm to take care of her injury.

"My arm," River turned those huge brown eyes on him. "It's not bad."

He stared down at her and she stared up at him.

"Yeah well…pull up your sleeve." He ordered after who knows how long of just sitting and staring at one another. "Don't know why ya gotta wear that damn thing anyhow, aint exactly like its cold here."

"I like this sweater, it's comfortable."

He grabbed a hold of her arm and inspected the bullet wound "It's huge." He continued with their conversation mostly because he didn't want to be stuck in that silent staring thing they had just been doin', it was odd.

"Everything I own is huge." She muttered quietly as he began to clean the blood off of her arm. It wasn't bad, just like she had said, only a scratch really. She wouldn't even need a weave on it.

She stared at him as he cleaned her arm. Big rough hands petted her skin in an all too soothing way, he wasn't suppose to be soothing. He was Jayne, he was the one you don't trust because he was never really on your side, he was unpredictable, and he was on his side and his side alone. Though it really did make some kind of sense, him being so good at cleaning up a bullet wound. How old had he been when he left home, when he needed to strike out on his own? No, it takes time for a person to become like he was, years most likely, but the point was that he was a mercenary and had been for a long time and the one thing you could depend on as a mercenary was to get shot.

"Told you it wasn't that bad." She muttered as she blinked out of her internal musings.

"Yeah well it coulda been worse…"

She smirked a little at the thought and his gentle concentration on cleaning her arm; she'd had worse, much much worse. "You've hurt me worse."

Jayne's head snapped up and he glared at her. "You tried to kill me!" He pointed an angry finger at River "With a knife…a big knife!"

River turned to stare at the wall across from her for what seemed like the hundredth time since the two sat down on the edge of the bed. "I was about to shoot them."

"So?" What was so ruttin' fascinating with that gorram wall?

"So, it's the same thing." She explained looking back at Jayne's puzzled look.

Jayne shook his head and continued to glare at River. "No it aint."

It was River's turn to look confused.

"They tried to kill you first." He explained as he turned his attention back to her arm. "it's self defense if they try an' kill you first."

And that made sense, just like his gentle touch made sense. She smiled gently to herself, because it had been so long since anything had made sense to her, and so she chose to allow the moment to stay like that. So she said nothing, and turned to stare at the wall across from her again.

It was a rather boring wall once you really look at it.

-------------------------------------------

Simon came bounding towards the bridge of the ship, punching letters into his portable encyclopedia as he walked. He looked up from the small screen as he entered the cockpit and found Mal sitting on the edge of the pilot's seat glaring at the ships consol, which had been mostly dismantled as far as Simon could tell, well wires were hanging about haphazardly at the very least.

Mal jumped up from his seat as he heard Simon come in. "How the hell am I supposed to fix this gorram thing? I mean…" Mal bends over and grabs a large hunk of metal off of the floor. He hefts it into the air and begins gesturing wildly with it. "What the hell is this!"

Simon's eyes grow wide and his eye brows rise on his forehead as he stares at the fat L shaped piece of blackened metal in Mal's hand for a moment. He fixes the captain with a pointed 'How am I suppose to know' look as Mal sighs deeply.

"We're screwed..." He drops the piece back onto the floor, not even bothering to cringe at the loud clank it makes as it hits the floor. "The only people on the gorram ship that don't know how to fix the thing are the two that get stuck here..." He continues on angrily choosing to glare at all of Kaylee's tools laid out next to the foot of the ships controls.

"Jayne knows how to fix the ship?"

Mal spun around to glare at Simon. "Well, no!" He answered indignantly. Of course he knew more about how to fix the ship then Jayne, or at least he was mostly positive that he knew more about how to fix the ship then Jayne. "Don't matter though...cause he aint here neither!"

Simon sighed and looked around him at all of the pieces Kaylee had been fiddling with before she had left. "Zoe knows more about how to fix the ship then either of us. I think we should just have her fix the Cortex feed and the com.'s instead of the two of us trying to do it."

"Would but can't."

"Can't?"

"Can't." Mal states again as Simon turned to look at him. "She's workin' on getting' our power back on and savin' the few systems we got workin'. We need her doin' what she's doin'. So that leaves you an' me to fix the Cortex feed and com's."

Simon nods and looks back to the complicated mess of wires hanging out of the main control panel. "Well I found my encyclopedia and it does have a basic layout of the com. system."

Mal stood up from the pilot's chair where he had been waiting for Simon, a fully functional flashlight in hand. "Shiny, let's see it."

The two stare down at the screen as the blue print loads. They share similar looks of disbelief and horror as they stare down at the complicated blue print. Simon's eyes grow wide as he takes in the dozens of lines of various colors that indicate different wires, not to mention the fact that the blue print is several different pages long. Mal turns his head to peer down at the screen sideways in a failed attempt to figure out what the top most green line was suppose to be.

"Tu zhong ji dan chan luan."

Simon nods mutely, still trying to find his voice. "Well, this is certainly going to take some time."

Mal sighs deeply, giving the control panel a final pointed look before turning to Simon, wearing his grave face, the face he saved for when he really needed someone to do something he'd rather not have to make them do. "We don't got time to waste Doc, get it workin'."

"Wait, what? What do you mean 'get it working'?"

"You got the blue print right there," Mal pointed at the encyclopedia grasped tightly in Simon's hands as he turned and began to leave "figure out what's wrong and fix it." He said with a wave of his hand towards the ships controls behind him.

"I…I don't even know where to begin…."

Mal stops at the edge of the door way. He stands there for a moment before turning and walking back over to Simon. He took the doctor by the shoulders and stares deep into the younger man's eyes. "You're one of the best doctors the core ever saw, top three percent, you've damn near brought everyone on this crew back from death at least once, me more'n that, hell you've even reattached a girls leg…her whole leg Simon. You tellin' me you can do all that and not fix somethin' simple like this com system?"

"That's completely different. Those were people; I understand how they work and how to fix them, but this…" He turns his head to stare at the mess of wires, fear in his eyes, and Mal knew it was fear cause his eyes were wider then when he was angry. "It's completely beyond me."

"Doc, just think of it as another patient." Mal grinned at the younger man before turning to leave for the second time in only a few moments. "An' remember, if all else fails...hit it with a big hammer," he shouts over his shoulder "if it breaks, it needed replacing anyway."

"What about you?" Simon shouted down the hallway after Mal.

"Trust me doc, me an' technology don't exactly get along all too well, side's I'd only slow you down."

Simon stared at the now empty hallway for a moment before turning back towards the consol, wondering briefly how he had gotten into this mess in the first place.

-----------------------------------------

Jayne walked out of the bathroom, feeling more then refreshed after the shower he had allowed himself to enjoy. River wasn't hurt too bad, an' the Feds weren't breakin' down their door so he figured they were fine for the moment and decided that he had better enjoy the finer points of a hotel room, 'cause the beds sure as hell weren't as comfortable as the one's on the ship.

He took one look around the small room and sighed deeply to himself, of course River was no where to be seen. She wouldn't be River if she stayed where she was supposed to. Sure he hadn't told her to not leave but that didn't mean he hadn't wanted her to stay put.

A loud clap of thunder echoed and it dawned on him where River would most likely be.

"You know...My Pa always said it was a damn fool that don't come in outta the rain..." Jayne stated from just outside the door to the small room the two would be sharing for the night, his tone surprisingly light considering all that happened earlier in the day.

River stood out in the open, a few feet from the edge of the hotels covered porch, soaked by the rain that was gently falling.

She held out her arms, her too long sweater sleeves pushed down so her small hands could stick out of them. She watched, fascinated, as the large rain drops splatter against her upturned palm. "Haven't been in rain for years…I was curious if it was still how I remembered it." She answers his silent question in a small voice, never turning towards him, a smile spreading across her face.

"Yeah well...you keep standing out in it you're gonna catch a cold or sumthin'."

When she didn't move from where she stood out in the damned rain he decided to go back inside, like any sane person would, away from the porch leading out into the downpour, his mind set on how much he wished he could eat somethin'. He muttered under his breath something about not feeling bad for the feng le girl when she gets the flu that's bound to follow her little outing into the wonderful world of weather, after all weren't his fault if she got sick.

"Rain isn't what you think it is."

Jayne stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her with confusion. She was standing there, her head turned towards him, hair hanging around her face in wet tendrils as the water continued to pour.

"They associate rain with sadness and loss, but it's not about that. Its about life...Without rain the trees would go thirsty and the rivers and lakes would run dry..." She turned her head to look out towards the grazing field next to the nearby farm; the planet really was overrun by farms. She took a deep breath and bit her bottom lip slightly.

Jayne took a few steps towards her, not entirely sure why, stopping just short of where the rain was hitting the porch.

Rivers face scrunched up in a look of utter concentration before she shook her head slightly. "No one really understands rain."

He looked at the little slip of a girl before him, really trying to understand her. The look of concentration left her face as she took in a deep breath through her nose, enjoying the smell of the world around her.

Jayne sighed a little and looked out to the field where her eyes have been glued for the last few moments. He looked at the cows in the field, all huddled together to keep warm in the freezing rain and briefly wondered if River is cold having been standing out there for as long as she has, granted he quickly banishes the thought. People would think he's getting soft if they heard those kinds of thoughts coming from him.

"Rain may be good and fun for Mother Nature and all, but it sure don't do us any favors..." He stated, leaning against the door frame of the small room they were sharing.

River's face again scrunched up. She blinked a few times and turned her head to look at Jayne, questioning his last statement with nothing but her eyes. He looked at her and then around at the area surrounding them.

"Yeah sure it keeps the trees healthy and the rivers runnin' an all that go se, but you can't do nothin' outside when it's rainin'." He looked up at the dark sky for a moment before glaring at the girl in front of him. "Plus you can get sick real easy from being out in it too long." He directed the last statement directly to her, trying to get a point across and with, he was proud to say, very little frustration. He only sounded slightly put out by having to be outside in this kind of weather, though he would be far more frustrated if the porch he stood on wasn't covered.

"Opposing forces, contrasting in their basic meanings." She said to the muddy ground, or maybe to him and she just happened to be looking at the ground when she said it, he wasn't quite sure. She turned toward him, staring at him with those large brown eyes of hers. He felt a bit like one of those scans her brother had of her brain, like she's studying him trying to figure something out, as if the answer to any question she had about him was right there and she just had to find it. It was all matters of unsettlin' to have her starin' at him like that.

"They aren't what you think they are. They have a deeper meaning, though not at first recognizable." She began to slowly walk towards him, as if he were a wild animal she was afraid of scaring. "The name is not the thing, but the thing is the name and the meaning that is placed with it." She stopped coming towards him when she reached the edge of the porch, still a considerable distance from Jayne himself.

She closed her eyes tightly trying to ignore the other sounds that began to fill her head. Back into the room and the thoughts of those that live there. She sighed trying to find the right words to let him know what she is talking about, but they begin to get lost and jumbled in the mess of her head.

"Surrounded by contrasts...You know I'm crazy because you are not...I know Mal is honorable because Jayne is not..."

"Hey..." He said in an offended tone, he wasn't that dishonorable. Granted he weren't under the illusion that he was at all honorable, but there were plenty worse then him in the 'Verse.

Her eyes move to him "Girls name, but not a girl..." Jayne's eye's narrowed at River as she smiled beatifically at him "I'm not a large natural occurring stream of water..."

Jayne looked at her in confusion, honestly trying to understand what she meant. Hell he weren't any good with this figuring out stuff, never been the brains of an operation. Though he'd like to think he had some to his name, enough at least to know he weren't any good at making the plans. He was the muscle, you tell him where to shoot or who to fight and he'd do it better then anyone you'd ever seen. But for the life of him he couldn't figure out some of the things that came out of this girl's mouth.

Some of it he got, a minuet ago when she was spouting off stuff about the rain, he got that, hell he could even identify with that. But this contrast's thing he didn't get. He knew what she was saying, he even understood what she was saying, he just didn't understand what she was trying to say with it. Gorram girl never could just come out and say anything, always has to use metaphors and make everyone figure out what she was trying to get at, though if he was being honest she'd been doin' that a lot less ever since Miranda.

"Try to say it...words get lost. The one's coming in are going through the exit, they don't belong there. Some get lost in all the traffic, and then it comes out wrong. Been better lately, words hold better comprehension to those around me, better understanding. The words stay in their lines most of the time...but sometimes I still get confused...but I understand." She looked intently into his eyes as if that would help him understand where she was going with this conversation, and took a deep breath. "We aren't all what we seem." She began to walk towards him again and finally out of the rain. "You're a mercenary; you kill and steal but you're still an ally. I'm just a girl; I laugh and play, but I can be a weapon able kill you in seconds."

Jayne went from honestly trying to understand River to being slightly panicked at her last comment, and the fact that she now stood only a foot away from him, how the hell the girl'd gone and gotten so close to him was confusin' as all get out.

River looked at him slightly confused and blinked before she placed a hand on his chest. "We are rain..."

Jayne looked down to her wet hand placed on his chest, right above the scar she left there from what seemed like long ago. It was hard not to be on edge around her, hell she said so herself, she could kill him in a few minuets if she wanted. Yet here he stood, her hand on his chest looking at him with those eyes, full of hope and trust, and he was dumbfounded.

He was completely dumbfounded and not at what she was trying to say, he got that, no he was dumbfounded at himself. Why wasn't he pulling away from her, why had he not walked away as soon as she started talking to him? Hell he knew the answer to that one, because he's the one that went and started the conversation, which leads to the most important question, why the hell had he started a conversation with the crazy girl in the fist place? Even if she wasn't all that crazy, heck she's even pretty good company once she starts talkin' clear. Plus she's great to have in a fight, know you aint gonna die when the government created super assassin's got your back, she even proved it in that bar earlier.

"It's easier here..." She said quietly, snapping him out of his own thoughts. Her eyes were locked onto where her hand laid on his chest, and for some reason his eyes fell there as well.

"It's hard to know the differences between what one says, and thinks, and what one does...they aren't all the same, cluttered and jumbled...too much noise. I like being here." She said tapping her temple with the hand that wasn't spread across his chest. "It's quiet and simple, like being here." She said tapping his temple before letting her eyes fall back down to stare at the hand she still had sprawled across his chest. 

Jayne wasn't sure whether that was her way of saying he was dumb or if she was trying to give him a compliment, his eyes went to her face, trying to see if he could tell by looking at her.

"You do what you say, and you say what you think." She stated smiling to herself, or his chest, again he wasn't quite sure. Her eyes snapped up to his and he suddenly found it a bit harder to breath. "It's easier to be just me."

He scowled down at the tiny girl in front of him, only now realizing that she was shivering from the cold and still completely soaking wet. "Tee wuh duh pee-goo..."

"You have kind eyes when you don't scowl…you'd be much more handsome if you didn't scowl."

"Yeah, and you'd be a lot easier to be around if you just used some common sense. You're gonna get phenomena or sumthin' from being out in the rain for so long..." He stares down at her muddy feet and sighs angrily "and who the hell goes out without their shoes on?"

"I go on runs without my shoes." She pointed out as he gave her a little push towards the door of their room, a not so subtle gesture that their time outside was over.

"Well that don't make it any less stupid to be out in the gorram rain with no shoes." He barked as he followed her inside.

"I wanted to see the rain," she looked over her shoulder at him. "It's much nicer then I remember."

----------------------------------------------------

Simon groaned and laid his latest tool down next to him. "There, I think I've got it now." He announced, the sound muffled by the jumble of wires his head was still stuck inside.

"Good." Mal walked over to the coms system and flips them on. A wonderful silence fills the room. "If you got 'em workin' why aint I hearin' anything?" He asks angrily turning to glare at Simon, who had finally removed himself from inside of the consol.

Simon sighed heavily, eyes downcast to the few wires that still stuck out from under the controls. "Maybe I didn't do it right."

"I thought you said you had it?"

Simon turned to glare at Mal. "This isn't exactly my area of expertise. I can barely understand the schematics for the com system let alone figure out what is wrong with them or how to fix it."

"You're supposed to be damn near a genius yourself. Didn't you get a load of fancy schooling?

"I told you, I learned about physiology and psychology! I can do any number of things involving the inner workings of the human body," He began to explain. Simon pointedly ignored the odd look Mal gave him at the mention of him being able to do a number of things with the human body; he was in no mood for the captain's childish behavior, so he turned to gesture towards the coms behind him. "But this is completely beyond me!"

As the words left his mouth the static of the coms, suddenly coming to life, met the two men's ears. They both turned to stare at the consol next to them.

Simon and Mal look at one another before turning to stare at Zoe, who stood just behind the two. "You didn't have the power hooked up to 'em."

"See! Totally beyond me!" Simon shouted throwing his arms up in defeat.

Mal turned towards the doctor with a pithy retort at the ready, but it dies as the screen on the consol flickers to life and an image of Inara meets the three.

"Mal...thank goodness. You had us worried sick."

"Us? Us who?" Mal asked hurriedly as he took the pilots seat.

"We went back to the port but Serenity weren't there." Kaylee stated, taking a seat next to Inara and ignoring Mal's question.

"No, not likely it was." Mal answered her non-question with a small grin. "When Zoe'n I got back to the docks a few fine local law enforcement officers were settin' up a road block. Soon as we got back on the ship we took off, couldn't take the chance someone saw us makin' our way back and decide to land lock us. So it's just the two of you?"

Inara answered with a small nod. "Right now we're staying at a local guild run house."

"River isn't with you?" Simon asked, worried laced in his voice.

"No, we had hoped the others were with you." Inara answered as Mal glared at Simon, who stood just outside of the camera's view.

"It's just Zoe, me an' the Doc here." Mal decided to stop glaring at Simon and turned his eyes back to Inara. "Ain't got any word from Jayne or River?"

"No, none..."

"This is terrible." Simon said slightly panicked. "We have no idea if they got her or…or even if she's okay…"

"She was with Jayne when we headed out." Zoe said, trying to clam the doctors frazzled nerves from just behind Mal. "Best case scenario they're still together."

Simon stared at her with total panic and gives a short desperate laugh. "This is a nightmare!"

"Relax Doc." Mal said never turning away from the Cortex feed.

"Relax! How am I suppose to relax when the best case scenario is my sister with that back stabbing bu yi er fei niang zi de yi shan yang!"

"You're gonna relax cause if you don't aint no way we'll ever get any of the crew back, including your sister and that motherless son of a goat. I need your mind here, helpin' ta fix my boat."

"I don't…"

"Then don't." Mal cut him off.

"He'll keep her safe Simon." Inara tried to sooth over the Cortex.

"Safe?" Simon asked incredulously.

"No, it's shiny, 'Nara's right Simon. Jayne'll keep River safe." Kaylee agreed, trying her best to calm him down.

"Safe?" Simon nodded slightly and glared down at Mal, who was still sitting in the pilot's chair. "Like he did on Ariel?"

Mal's jaw tightened as Simon's words hit him. Zi de yi ruttin' nu gou! How did Simon know about that? Mal's fist clenched in anger at the situation, his crew was questioning him, and more importantly he was questioning himself.

"I presume you know what he did there." Simon said in a deadly cold voice, completely devoid of any of the emotion he had only moments ago.

"What? What'd he do?" Kaylee asked utterly confused by the turn of this conversation.

"I do." Mal answered tersely.

Simon nodded and continue to stare down at the captain. "Then how can you tell me not to worry?"

"Sir?

"Mal what is he talking about?" Inara cut in.

"What's goin' on?" Kaylee's increasingly panicked voice again entered the fray.

"I say don't worry cause he knows if he ever tries somethin' like that again, he'll pay." Mal states standing up so he can glare down at Simon.

"He doesn't have to come back. He can take whatever money he can get and run."

"He does that, and I'll hunt him down and kill him with my bare hands." Mal answers, glare unwavering.

Simon shook his head and marched out of the bridge, Mal glaring at his back the whole way.

After a few moments of terse silence Inara took it upon herself to get the conversation rolling again. "We were worried something might have happened to you, especially since you haven't been answering any of our messages. We've been trying to contact you for hours now."

"Yeah well, we've been having some difficulty on that particular subject. Took our resident pain in the ass doctor and my favorite second near two hours to get the power, Cortex feed, an' com's workin' again." Mal said taking the pilot's seat again.

"What'd ya mean again?" Kaylee squeaked, obviously still slightly distraught at the conversation from a few minuets ago, that and the idea of her girl needin' fixin'. "I fixed it 'fore I left Serenity to go lookin' for parts."

"Just outside of atmo the engine blew." Zoe stated from just behind Mal. "It fried several different secondary systems when it went. Isolated most of 'em, but we've been concentrating on the cortex feed and com's."

"Now listen careful here now Kaylee, we're dead in the water and ain't a one of us can tell what's wrong with Serenity, nor how to fix her." Mal said, usin' his grave face for the second time that day. "Engines still movin' so we've got life support, but we don't got much more'n that."

"Figured as much. But engines still movin', that's better then I coulda hoped for." She said with a small, sad, little nod. "Musta just blown a coolin' unit without those power couplin's...that woulda been what caused the engine ta blow. I can tell ya how ta fix it but you still ain't gonna have an easy time landin' without the stabilizers. You aint got nav neither, an ifn' the Cortex got fried again odds of your stearin' bein' stable's near none." She continued on, listing all of the possible problems the ship could have.

"One problem at a time Kaylee." Mal cut in, hands raised in front of him in what he hoped passed for a 'slow down' gesture. "Just get us movin' again."

----------------------------------------------------

River sat with her legs curled up underneath her and ran her fingers over the smooth wood of the window frame. She wiped away the barely visible dirt from the window frame and rubbed her finger tips together, feeling the gritty dust between them.

"Is it gonna rain like this all day?"

Jayne's booming voice brought River out of her close study of the dirt. "Unlikely. It isn't the wet season, rain rarely last long then 8.452 hours on average during the dry season." River parroted the facts she knew were true from when she had set the course to Harvest only day's ago.

Jayne snorted and continued to scowl out at the rain "Yeah sure, real dry." He got tired of glaring out the window River was sitting next to, so he took to glaring at the ceiling, which got boring even quicker then the window had. "How long…"

"5.3829 hours." She answered him before he could even finish the question.

He sighed deeply and lay back on the bed. "Well this is boring." He huffed angrily throwing one arm over his eyes. He was getting antsy just sittin' about. He had made River take a shower an' hang her clothes up to dry after she came in from the rain, which left him with no shirt, on account of him not wantin' her sittin' about in her birthday suit.

She turned and cocked her head to the side to watch him closely. He was stretched out on the bed, bare chested, one arm thrown over his eyes and the other to his side. She leaned her head over to lay on her shoulder and breathed in deeply, enjoying the smell of fresh rain and the small room.

He growled lightly from the bed and she sighed quietly from the chair next to the window.

Jayne peaked out from under his forearm and watched as River watched him, or at him, he was never sure what she was looking at. "What?"

She blinked rapidly before turning back towards the window with a muttered 'nothing' following.

He watched her for a moment in odd curiosity. She was frantically avoiding his eyes and staring out the window entirely too absorbed in the falling rain. He looked at her closely for a moment before smirking to himself. Weren't no way in the 'Verse he just caught her checking him out, right?

He considered it for a moment, hell she wasn't crazy anymore and she'd always been cute. Nah, no way she'd been checkin' him out, least wise not that way. He sighed again feeling oddly underdressed, which really wasn't all that odd considering his lack of a shirt. He decided to go back to scowling about the weather because if it weren't for the gorram humidity he'da had a jacket with him to let the girl wear while her things were getting' dry.

"We outta hit the hay, plan on leavin' early tomorrow. Especially iff'n the suns gonna be out."

River nodded mutely from the chair by the window, never letting her eyes wander away from the slight drizzle outside.

Jayne looked from the small girl curled up in the tiny chair next to the window and then to the small bed he laid in. Well callin' it small didn't really give the bed the credit it deserve, especially when compared to the beds on the ship. No this bed was a good size, just small in comparison to the beds he was used to when it came to bein' offa the ship. Granted those beds had a specific purpose, one that lended itself to needin' the space to move about an all.

Truth of the matter was the bed was the right size for two, though he didn't take a particular shining to the idea of sharin' a bed with the crazy girl, even if she weren't crazy no more. The fact that she may or may not have been checkin' him out just a moment ago, along with the fact that all he had on was a pair of pants and all she had on was his t-shirt didn't help the matter none neither.

He grumbled lightly and shifted on the mattress. River looked over her shoulder at the sound of the mattress creaking. "Well? You gonna get to sleep or what?"

River stared at Jayne for a moment, trying to understand what he was getting at. "I don't understand."

"You know for a genius you can be damned slow sometimes." Jayne grinned from the bed.

River quirked an eyebrow at him, the puzzled look not leaving her face.

"There's more'n enough room for two on the bed…and less'n you want to sleep in that chair over there you'd best jump in." River looked from the bed to the chair she sat in and back again. "I aint gonna bite." He offered as she remained unmoving from her spot on the chair. "And if you think for a minute that I'm gonna sleep on the floor then you're crazier then you've ever been…already lost my gorram shirt to you"

River looked back out the window before letting out a small sigh. She stood up and moved away from the window and towards the bed. Jayne didn't know whether he should be happy that she was doing what he told her to do, or upset because he was about to share a bed with a woman without any of the fun that usually came with that.

As River slid under the covers of the bed Jayne moved a pillow between them. "Just make sure you stay on your side dong ma?"

River nodded to him and rolled over onto her side, letting her back face him. He watched her for a few before he followed her lead and turned onto his side, facing away from her.

He laid there, listening to the gentle pitter patter of the rain outside, and the even more gentle sound of the girls breathing. He could do this, no problem. Aint like it was a big deal. Plenty of folks share beds without anything happening all the gorram time. Aint like he was gonna go to the special hell for sharin' a bed with the girl, especially ifn nothin' happened.

He had nothing to worry about, even if the Captain and the Doc had a problem with him an' her sharin' a bed, don't mean they gotta know about it. Not like he was gonna go tellin' the whole 'Verse about it, an he doubted she would go yappin' about tonight to anyone. So there was nothin' to worry on. Plus there was no one on the planet that would want him dead for sleepin' in the same bed as River, cept'n maybe River herself, but she didn't show any signs of bein' upset with him. No she seemed fine, right cozy on the other side of the bed, weren't like she was gonna slit his throat in the middle of the night right?

It was going to be a long night.

-------------------------------------------------------

The thunder continued to crash above them, the rain remained ever steady. It was well pass midnight and the storm didn't show any signs of ending anytime soon. The small room was completely dark and silent. River was still facing away from Jayne on her side of the bed while Jayne had taken to wrapping his arms around the pillow he had tried to use as a divider.

As a streak of lightning flashed across the sky River jumped up in bed.

Jayne jerked awake next to her. He stared bleary eyed at River who sat with wide eye's completely still next to him. "What?"

She turned to stare at him, worry obvious on her face. "We need to leave…now!"

Jayne didn't question her; he just jumped out of the bed and grabbed his gun from the table he had set it on before going to sleep. "Get dressed quick." He ordered her.

She slipped out of bed and into the bathroom where her clothes were hanging.

"What exactly are we in such a hurry to avoid?" He asked looking out of the window, trying to figure out what had gotten her into such a panic. Deciding that not only was she not going to answer him, but that he wasn't going to be able to figure out what had gotten her all up in arms about Jayne moved back to the end of the bed to put his boots on.

The bathroom door swung open after a minuet more and River stepped out, Jayne's shirt clutched in her hands. "It's too late now." She said with a sad shake of her head. "He found you."

And with that Jayne's world went black.

TBC


	5. The Boomerang Effect

Title: The Boomerang Effect

Series: Bad Blood

Pairing: It's going to have a bit of all the canon, plus Rayne!

Rating: R (for Jayne torture)

Disclaimer: Let's just say my ego got a big boost if you think I'm good enough to have created 'em.

Author's Notes: I have a longer one at the end, read it if you feel the need. Oh yeah it's like 7,300 some odd words.

**Important Note: If you didn't see me mention it on the last part cut off the very end of the last chapter. If you didn't read the part where Jayne blacks out go back and read the last few paragraphs. If you don't you are going to be all kinds of confused on this part.**

Thanks as always goes to **mik109** for being the best bridge maker ever, really that scene wouldn't be half as good as it is without you.

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His eyes slid open slowly, and he was greeted with the hazy sight of a large wall. Briefly he wondered how much he really did drink the night before; he had all the symptoms of his usual 'too much fun' type of night. His head was throbbing, and his whole body ached. It wasn't until he really looked at the wall next to him that he realized that he wasn't in the cozy bed of some whore, though that conclusion might have been made because of the cold hard floor he was sprawled out on more then the grimy wall.

Jayne looked around to discover he was cuffed and chained in an all too small room. The chains were attached to some kind of pulley system that ran up the ceiling as far as he could tell, and the room smelt a lot like that bar he had been in the day before.

It took him a few minutes to remember what had happened, but remember he did. Granted said memory was all kinds of fuzzy and didn't make a lick of sense. The girl'd been changin' after wakin' him up from a nice peaceful sleep, sayin' somethin' about him bein' found an' the next thing he knew everything had gone dark.

The grating of a large and heavy metal door opening snapped Jayne out of his thoughts. 'Bout damn time, he'd be able to figure out what'd happened. He rolled over and sat up, unable to stand mostly due to the lack of feeling in his lower half, which if he was being honest didn't bode too well for him.

"Jayne Cobb…you know I've spent a lot of time looking for you."

And all Jayne could think as he took in those words, and stared up into his captor's eyes, was that this boded even worse for him. "Wo shi yao si."

-----------------------------------------

Mal stormed down the hallway towards the mess, his mind set on finding his Doctor and getting things smoothed out. He might not like the way that last conversation went, but that didn't mean they didn't need the Doc's brain to help 'em fix their ship.

Mal found him standing in the doorway leading down into the cargo bay. He thought for a moment it was due to the lack of light in said cargo bay, but then again if Simon had really planned on makin' his way to the nether regions of the ship he woulda taken some form of light with him. That was his way after all, all logical and the like.

"Doctor."

"Don't ask me to be okay with what is going on, Captain." Simon stated coldly, still staring into the dark cargo bay. "Because no matter how many times you ask me to be," he turned to stare at the man behind him. "I won't be. I can't be."

"I got no qualms about that, Doc. You go ahead and keep on being not okay about it, but you help out while you keep bein' not okay." Mal answered, walking over to stand in the doorway along side him. "I got a ship needs serious work done on her, an' the sooner that gets done the sooner we go back to Harvest to pick up our wayward travelers."

Simon nodded dejectedly and turned to look back into the dark cargo bay.

"Jayne's a big, semi intelligent man an' he knows he ain't gettin' back on here without our little pilot. They're fine." Mal stated with a nonchalant shrug and lopsided grin.

"I hope you're right."

Mal nodded again, giving up on his original plan of cheering up his brilliant surgeon crewmember. Granted the whole point of that plan was created for the sole purpose of getting the doc to help Zoe fix the engine so he could watch from afar while he did his captainly things. He preferred to be kept busy doing the overabundance of nothing that was available without much of the ship's power on, or systems working for that matter because that was properly captainly.

"So…" Mal began in an attempt to end the semi-uncomfortable silence that had fallen between the two. "…I'm glad we had this talk." With that said, he shoved Simon up the hallway back toward the engine room.

-----------------------------------

"Well, Jayne, I gotta say, this is a day I've been waiting a long time for."

"I'm sure you have." Jayne shot back, rolling his hands and wrists in their cuffs. Oh, hell, he was screwed. He was chained up in a room only god knows where at the foot of a man he'd stolen from. "You're a long way from your moon, Higgins. Can't be just for me…though if it is, I feel real special, might actually blush."

Jayne looked around the room and noticed neither hide nor hair of River. That meant that either she'd gotten away from them when they'd hit him or she was in a different room havin' who knows what done to her. Either way mentioning her would probably get her a whole lot more dead than just ignoring her.

"You should." Higgins shot back, the subtle amusement that had colored his voice only moments before completely gone. "Though I suppose you're right, it isn't just for you. You see, Cobb, you're one hell of a thorn in my side. Have been ever since you landed on my moon, and it would seem as though you've just gone and gotten yourself so screwed that there's not a hope in the 'Verse for you."

"What the hell does that mean? I ain't been on your crappy moon since you set Stitch Hessian on me that last time."

"Oh, yes, him. Colorful reunion as I heard it." Higgins gave Jayne a smile that made his skin itch just a little more than it had since the man'd walked into the room. "But be there or not, seems you just can't help but be an inspiration for those hwoon dans on my moon, Cobb."

Higgins walked over to a tall wooden table set up along the wall of the room. "Even after they found out there great "Hero of Canton" was really just a back stabbing son of a bitch that was only tryin' to save his own ass, they still adore you." Higgins shook his head and stopped toying with the metal laid out on the table next to him and turned back to Jayne.

"Now, what was it they said about you? Oh, yes, you taught them a lesson in life that if you want something you can't just wait for it to be given to you." He flashed another grin in Jayne's direction that caused the merc to flinch just a little. "Yeah, they told me that as they booted me off of my own gorram moon. You've been nothing but trouble to me Cobb, and now I've finally got you...I've been dreaming of this for a long time now."

Jayne weren't the type of man to scare easy, and he never would admit it even if it were the truth. So to say that he was scared out of his mind would be a lie, but to say Jayne was very deeply worried for his own safety would be correct and true.

The man that had spent the whole time standing a few feet behind Higgins looked between the pair in front of him. "Uh, sir…"

"What?" Higgins barked out, head snapping to the side so he could look at Mick.

"You told me to remind you to ask him about the other one."

"Oh, yes, how could I forget." Higgins turned to again look at Jayne. "I have to say, I find it odd that you'd be traveling with a woman."

"What woman?"

"The cute one." Mick added with a leer at what Jayne hoped was the mental image of someone _not_ in the room.

"Skinny little thing, brown hair, big eye's. Mick's not wrong, she's damned cute, Cobb."

Jayne was facin' a dilemma, well another dilemma outside of the one where he was gonna get tortured to death. If'n they though the girl meant anything to him, they'd do all kinds of things to her to get at him. Then again, if they thought she was just some girl he'd picked up, they might not want a witness around so they would do whatever they wanted with her and then get rid of the body. Either way the girl was screwed, and he had no way to help her.

"I ain't travelin' with her."

"Like hell you ain't!"

Higgins held up his hand to quiet the man standing next to him. "See now, I don't believe you. My man here swears he saw you and her take on a whole gang of men at a local bar just yesterday."

"Now you're just talkin' crazy." Jayne scoffed, "What in the hell would a woman be doin' travelin' 'round with me let alone takin' out a bar full of men?"

"I'll figure out who she is, Cobb, and why she's with you. You can count on that." Higgins growled out angrily. "In fact, I think we should get started on that now. Do you know what the great thing about torturing a man until he squeals like a stuck pig for no reason other then revenge is, Cobb?" Higgins asked as he moved back over to the table. "It's the fact that you can't end it. There is nothing you can say to make me stop." He stated with another sickening smile

"You best kill me now, because torturing a man is just asking for him to find and kill you later."

"What makes you think you'll have a later?"

Jayne smirked. "'Cause I'm the good guy, an' there's always a later for the good guy."

Higgins laughed unpleasantly. "Think you've had too much of that Mudder's milk, Cobb. You've never been the good guy. No matter what my workers think, you don't have it in you."

Jayne's smirk never wavered. "Ain't seen me in a while, Higgins. 'Verse changes."

"No power in the 'verse could change you that much, Cobb. You are an incompetent thief and a backstabber. Nothing can change that."

Jayne sneered. He might not be quite a good guy yet, but he couldn't shake the image of the girl's face when she looked to him to save her. No one else knew where they were so he was going to have to be the one to rescue her this time, and rescuing the damsel in distress always made a man a good guy, even if only temporarily.

Righteously believing he had won the argument, Higgins nodded grimly before turning back to Mick. "Don't mess up his face. I want to be able to tell who it is when you're done." Higgins said over his shoulder to the man standing behind him as he stared down at Jayne.

"Why the hell would you want that?"

"Those fools love you, Cobb. You gave 'em hope, heart, the courage to use what few brains they've got. I figure if I go back to _my_ moon with your mangled corpse it'll prove my point more than enough." Higgins said stalking back over to stand near the merc.

"Oh, yeah, and what point is that?" Jayne asked, his mind still on the mental image of his mangled corpse going anywhere anytime soon.

"No one takes anything from me…ever. Not my money, not my son, and sure as hell not my own gorram moon."

Jayne fought back the urge to laugh at the unfairness of his current situation. "In case you didn't know it, but I didn't take any of that…" Yeah sure he had _tried_, but that ain't the point. "I don't have your money. I don't have your ruttin' moon, and I sure as shit didn't take your son. Hell, I didn't even know you had one."

"No, but that fancy whore of yours did."

"My…" Jayne racked his brain; he was positive he didn't know any whores from Higgins moon. At least, he was mostly positive he didn't know any whores from Higgins moon. "Who?"

"That companion of yours. She tricked him, made him turn against me… _me_! His own father… and all for your worthless ass."

"Hell, she ain't mine, you dai mu niu yin jing." Jayne shouted back, Higgins would be blaming him for the end of Earth-that-was at the rate they were going, and it was beginning to make him antsy.

"Ah, Jayne, your attitude is one of the things I always hated about you. We'll have to see if we can fix that." Higgins stopped his rant and glared down at the mercenary. "I have nothing now, Cobb. All thanks to you and yours. I am going to be miserable for the rest of my life so I might as well get something out of it. I'll be able to look back at everything, and smile because you're dead. So remember, whatever happens to you in here, you deserve it."

Higgins took a moment to pause and just glare at the man that had ruined his life.

"Anything you have to say?" he asked his cold eyes boring down into Jayne.

"Fuck you," Jayne spat out at the smaller man.

Higgins eyes filled with fire, and he hauled back and punched Jayne. His head jerked to the other side as Higgins' fist connected.

Jayne slowly turned back to Higgins with a smirk. "You punch like a girl." Jayne figured it must've been from the lack of doing anything; bound to make a guy completely useless on his own. That and it would piss him off to say it. Hey, if he's getting blamed for every wrong in the man's life, he might as well get a few good insults in before he has his tongue cut off or vocal cords ripped out or whatever.

Higgins eyes went from burning with fire to completely cold and lifeless in no time flat.

He lashed out, kicking Jayne in the side over and over again until he fell over.

"I am going to kill you, you miserable piece of shit."

"The hell you are." Jayne choked out as he did one hell of a job of ignoring the burning in his side. He rolled over and off his side so he could glare up at Higgins. "You're going to do what you always do, run off and let someone else do the work for you."

Jayne pushed himself up into a kneeling position; arms cuffed in front of him, and grinned at Higgins. "If anyone's gonna kill me, it's gonna be him." He nodded his head towards the other man in the room. "It was never gonna be you."

-----------------------------------------

The gentle hum of an engine echoed under her cheek as she tried to open her eyes. The first thing that met them, once she had forced them open, was the metal wall she had been laid next too.

River lay, sprawled out, in the middle of a small room that shared far too many features with the storage locker she had become a regular inhabitant of on Serenity only a few months before. It wouldn't have been a surprise to know that it was actually just a storage locker on another ship if she was being honest.

She moaned softly as she tried to move, every muscle arguing with her as she did so.

"Hey…hey Sammus!" Jonus shouted over to his friend, who was currently sitting at a large table cleaning out his gun. "I think them drugs are wearin' off."

"Yeah?" Sammus laid his gun down and walked over to look through the window into the storage locker River was tied up in.

"Yeah, she's movin'." Jonus stated, eyes never leaving River.

"Move over!" Gunther pushed in next to Sammus blocking the window to anyone else's view. "She's real cute…"

"You ain't to touch her, Gunther. Higgins said ta keep our hands to ourselves and I aim to do so, less'n you don't wanna get paid as much as you wanna get dead."

"That ain't no fun." Gunther moped, moving away from the window and over to where Sammus had been cleaning his guns. He plopped himself down in the chair his cohort had recently been using and picked Jayne's gun up off of the table top. "What's the use in catchin' a cute little thing like that if'n we don't getta have any fun with her?"

Gunther rolled the gun around in his hands, checking over every last customized feature. "Hey, that guy we tracked down's got good taste. This gun is a beauty."

"I swear I seen her before." Jonus said, choosing to ignore his friend's current infatuation with their prisoner's weapon.

"Shut it."

Jonus leaned over to his companion, ignoring his demands entirely, eyes never leaving River's slight frame. "I swear it Sammus, I seen her before…somewhere."

"Would you shut up Jonus?" Sammus snapped back at him, turning to glare at the shorter man next to him. "I doubt you ever did see 'er before."

"Hell, yes, I have!" Jonus shot back turning to glare as well. "I'd never forget a girl looks like that..." He continued gesturing towards the door.

"Ya know, when ya bring it up she does look kinda familiar." Gunther offered as he looked up from his current task of dismantling Jayne's gun.

"Thank you!" Jonus turned back to stare into the room that held the girl in question.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" He shouted so she could hear him on the other side, through several inches of metal and glass that made up the door.

"She's probably just a whore!"

"Di yu ta shi!"

"Jonus' right Sammus," Gunther jumped in before the two men could start arguing again.

"You tellin' me you wouldn't remember seein' a whore looks like her?" He shook his head and waved his cleaning rag around wildly. "We been on that crappy farmin' planet for 'round a month and ain't a one of us' seen her walkin' about."

Sammus stared at the two men and shook his head. "It's a pretty big planet."

"It ain't that big."

----------------------------------------------------

Simon had that lost, vacant look in his eyes and, if a person didn't know him well enough to know that he would never cry under the current circumstances, he looked to be near tears.

"Simon, it's going to be okay. Just…try again."

"Kaylee… I… I'm going to kill the ship. It's not even alive, but I'll find a way to kill it if I try again." He was still shaken up by her anguished cry when he had reached forward to remove the part he had thought she was talking about only to discover that what he had tried to do would have completely frozen the engine.

Kaylee sighed quietly and stared forlornly through the viewing screen to see her xiu dai trying to put her boa bei back together, and it was driving her nuts. She could hardly handle listening to Simon try to describe what parts of the engine were broken in the first place, let alone watch him try to hook up all of the pieces an' parts to get it fixed.

"Okay, now you see that? That's the grav boot. You hit that 'r fry it 'r anything you'll be bouncin' off the walls, and ya ain't gonna get a thing done."

"Right, so, no touching that." Simon nodded to himself.

"Right behind that's the main igniter switch."

"The main what?" Simon turned to stare confusedly into the Cortex view screen. "Who would put an ignition switch next to something as important as the artificial gravitation…"

"SIMON! Relax, you're 'bout to drive me around the bin, and I ain't even there. Hate to think what Zoe's thinkin'…Just relax, you're doing fine."

"No, I'm not… nothing about this day is even remotely fine." He slid down the wall of the engine room and rested his head in his hands. He was used to being a help in a crisis, but mechanical things were simply not his forte. He had never respected Kaylee more than he did at this very moment. "We've been doing this for over an hour, and I'm pretty sure I've just made it worse."

"Jayne didn't complain this much when I had to make him fix the mule."

"What?" Simon's head shot up at the sound of Zoe's voice from the doorway to the engine room. "Jayne? _Jayne_ Jayne? He can fix things?"

"Yeah, and he don't complain half as much as you do." Zoe said as she walked over to stand in front of the view screen. "I got those wires Kaylee."

"Good, you'll need to use those to patch up that bunch of cables we talked about."

Zoe nodded as she crouched down next to the engine. She placed the cables on the floor between herself and Simon. "Start pullin' out all the burnt cables. They're gonna need to be replaced."

----------------------------------------------------

Inara quietly shut the door behind her as she left Kaylee to help the others. After all, there was little she could do to help them without actually being on the ship. Inara began to walk down the large hallway that she had been led through to get to her room from the main hall.

"Inara." Lyssa called out, coming up behind the companion. "Out for a late night stroll?"

"Kaylee's busy directing the others in the finer ways of engine mechanics. There's little I can do to help fix the ship from here so I decided to leave her to her work." Inara answered with a gentle smile.

"It's better to leave the genius to her work than risk disrupting her right?"

"Exactly." Inara grinned as Lyssa came up beside her. "Lyssa, it really has been too long." She said, taking in the sight of her old friend.

"Yes, it has." Lyssa answered with a soft smile. Inara remembered that smile from years ago. It alone could help one feel completely safe and wanted. It could turn a whole world upside down or at the very least one's stomach. It was her gift; each companion had one, an act or expression that made them so valuable to the Guild and as Companions.

"You look as beautiful now as you did back then of course." Lyssa continued.

"You as well."

Lyssa turned and began to walk down one of the large hallways that made up the majority of the training house, Inara in step next to her. "One must keep up appearances, especially during these times."

Inara gave her a small puzzled look at the accusing tone of her voice. "What do you mean?"

"These are difficult times, Inara," Lyssa stopped walking and turned to her old friend, concern written plainly across her pale features. "Are you sure you should be holed up on some old, run down ship at the edge of civilized space?"

"Serenity is not rundown, nor is it old."

"No, comparatively speaking it's not, but that doesn't change the truth of the matter. They've stated so themselves; they want you back as you were before all of…well, everything."

Inara's shoulders tensed at the mention of the Guild. "Yes, but I can't forget everything as easily as they can."

"It would be best for all involved if you tried."

Inara suppressed the ever growing urge to groan loudly and throw her hands up in defeat. After all, she was with a very old friend, one which she would loath to loose her composure around. Instead she turned and walked, ever so gracefully, over to one of the large open windows that looked out over part of the gardens; they really did look ethereal as the rain gently began to fade into a light mist.

"Even if I could, Lyssa, I love Serenity." She tried to explain away the conversation. This was the last thing she had expected, let alone wanted, to be discussing in the middle of a hallway on the planet she was stranded on.

"Are you sure it's the ship you love?"

Inara spun around, shocked and scandalized at the accusation. "What, exactly, are you implying by that?"

Lyssa sighed quietly; something Inara had never seen her do. "Nothing, Inara, just be wary." The other companion said as she walked over to stand next to the window as well. "The Guild is being forced to move backwards thanks to all of this Miranda business." She fixed her eyes outside, noting the subtle tensing of Inara next to her at the mention of the planet that had held so many secrets from everyone, or perhaps it was the mentioning of the Guild by someone that knew of her history with them.

"They strove to expand our houses to every planet in the Universe and now they are being cut off from half of them…it's times like these Inara when women of your stature are needed most. If they want you to come back, they have ways of making you."

"Is that a…"

"Threat?" Lyssa cut her off. "No, it's simply a warning amongst friends. They know you are here Inara, and I fear the worse. This will not end well for anyone if sacrifices aren't made on everyone's part."

----------------------------------------------------

The manacles around his wrists were cutting into his flesh, the dull edges of the rusted metal biting into him bringing stinging stabs of pain whenever he tried to move, and move he did. With each slap of wet leather against his even wetter back, Jayne jerked forward.

He hadn't yelled for a long time, an' he was more then a little proud at that, but there were just some things you couldn't not scream over. The worst of it was the fact that he knew they were just getting started.

Higgins had meant it when he said mangled corpse. There weren't gonna be a soul in the 'Verse that could tell you the body Higgins was brining back to his moon was that of Jayne Cobb, except for the fact that Higgins had kept his word an' his face had barely been touched.

The whip screamed down, plunging into his soft, and bleeding, back. He yelped, and tried to lean away. Telling himself for the millionth time to not to show his feelings, which was getting harder with every stroke. He clenched his teeth and blinked away his tears. Then the lash fell again, and again. Ribbons of skin trailed, and scraps of muscle hung raggedly in the tattered mess of blood that had become his back.

And he was screaming.

Jayne couldn't help it. Every jarring stroke tore another agonized cry from his burning body, each new contact hammered into his consciousness, until all that he could be sure of was that he hurt and that the man behind him was going to keep beating that fact into him until he was dead.

His vision blurred in a wash of red, and he was pretty damn positive he didn't want to know what exactly was causing the red either. Through the haze he could see the man that so desperately wanted him dead, or tortured to death more correctly. He'd expected Higgins would be laughing maniacally, shoulders heaving as he watched him suffering with glee, but he wasn't.

Higgins stood unmoving near the table at the side of the room with the same grim face that he had worn since Mick had started, and the lack of change in his expression was almost as maddening as the few seconds he had to wait between each slap of the whip.

With a small jerk of Higgins' head the whip stopped. Jayne panted heavily and leaned forward, putting his entire weight on his chained arms, stinging be damned, thankful for the small fact that he was still kneeling instead of standing.

"Who's the girl, Cobb?"

Jayne wanted to cry, or laugh he wasn't exactly sure which. He wanted to tell him, even if only briefly, and that meant Higgins had been right earlier. There ain't a power in the 'Verse that can change a man like him.

Higgins stepped forward, his face changing for the first time since the torturing began. "Cobb, I'm not asking again." He said evenly as he squatted in front of Jayne. "Who's the girl?"

He had to force the air to enter his lungs, and blink away the would be tears from his eyes. He might be beaten and bloody, but there weren't no way in hell this Chou wang ba dan was gonna see him tear up, even if it was only from the pain.

"Chi shi."

Higgins nodded before standing angrily. "Do whatever you want with him. I'm done here."

Mick gave Higgins a curt nod as he left the room. "Just you and me now, buddy." Mick said with a sick smile as he took a firm hold on the chains that held Jayne where he was. "Let's get this going."

Mick pulled down hard. The pulleys the chains were attached to squeaked as Jayne was slowly pulled to his feet. With a deep groan of pain, Jayne's body was pulled up farther away from the floor so he could only hang listlessly by his arms.

Jayne's entire body was tensed, awaiting the next blow, while his mind tried to figure out exactly what the next blow would be. The silence that had filled the room was almost as maddening as the wait for what would be next, maybe even more so then the wait.

Being a man piled high with strong self preservation instincts, he found it odd that the first thing that came to his mind as he waited, other than what fun dear ol' Mick had in store for him, was the girl, or more correctly, what they were doin' to her. Weren't exactly like he had an over abundance of chances to get away, not that he'd be able to do all that much rescuing in his current condition, but he couldn't shake the feeling like he oughta be doin' something to save her. After all, it was his turn.

The cold water hit him in the gut harder than any fist the ji wang ba dan had thrown at him yet. His entire body clenched as the cold water stung his heated skin and mixed with the blood in his back causing it to burn even more, which frankly speaking would have seemed like an impossibility to Jayne only the moment before.

"Water is an excellent conductor of electricity." Mick said in an eerily calm voice. One that reminded Jayne all too much of the Operative and his detached view of the death he was wreaking around him.

Jayne glared forward at the man grinning in front of him and promised himself that, if he got out of this, he would be killing him in the most painful way possible, him and his boss. It was just after he finished that thought that he noticed the wire sparking in Mick's hand.

------------------------------------------------

"I heard he tortured a fella by lettin' a goat lick the meat offa the man's feet once."

"A goat?"

Gunther nodded solemnly. "Goat tongue torture."

"There ain't no such thing." Jonus shot back, obviously unsettled by the metal image that Gunther had been painting.

"Sure there is, don't you know anything about torturin' a man? You start with their feet, furthest body part away from anything vital." Gunther nodded and looked back down to the gun that laid in pieces on the table in front of him. "You put the pain on 'em hard and fast down there, and you get days outta 'em."

"That Mick guy freaks me out. How can someone get their jollies offa torturin' a man to death?" Sammus shook his head, obvious disgust written on his features. "I'd rather just shoot 'em and have it done with."

"You won't get a lot of info outta a dead guy." Gunther noted, pointing an accusatory cleaning rag at Sammus.

"Won't get a guy I done wrong comin' after me if'n something bad happens though. Shootin' a guy is instant. BAM!" Sammus hit his hand down on the table to emphasize the sound, as well as his point. "They're dead." He shook his head again. "Torturing takes time, lots of time. Time that can lead to a rescue, or an escape, or all manner of bad things."

Another tortured scream echoed around the room, sending all of the men into instant silence.

"How long they been goin' at it?"

"Couple'a hours."

"When'd he start screamin'?"

"An hour or so into it." Sammus stated with a queasy and unsettled look on his face as he continued to stare down the hallway that lead to the room where the screaming was coming from. "Why?" When no answer came Sammus turned to stare at Jonus, who wore a similar expression. "Why Jonus?"

Jonus jumped slightly at the sound of another scream ripping through the hall. "I'm goin' to the bridge."

"What's his problem?" Gunther asked, eyes never leaving the parts of the gun he was cleaning.

"Hell if I know, maybe it's got something to do with a man gettin' tortured to death down the hall?" Sammus answered with a disgusted sneer. He shook his head in revulsion, and kicked Gunther under the table.

"Ow! Damn, what was that for?"

"Dumbass."

----------------------------------------------------

River sat in the small storage locker straight and stiff. Her back was against the wall just out of sight from the window in the door. She hugged her knees up to her chest and breathed in deeply, fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"44." She said quietly before she began to rock back and forth. She hummed softly until the sound of another tortured scream slid through the walls.

"45." She choked out. "29.46 divided by 45 is .65 times a minute." She muttered to herself as she continued to rock. "269.46 divided by 389 is .69 times a minute."

She took a long shuddering breath as she let her arms fall to her sides. Another scream broke through the silence. She wrapped her arms around her head in a futile attempt to block out the sound. "Oh, God, Jayne."

As another scream ripped through the walls, River's shoulders heaved, and she began to cry.

----------------------------------------------------

Jonus slumped down in the pilot's chair as he stared out into the black. He spun around to stare at the door to the bridge as another scream hit him. He took a deep shaky breath as the sound faded away.

"Enough of this." He mumbled to himself as he spun his chair back around to face the console. He switched on the cortex screen and began flipping through the channels in a pointless attempt to find something worthwhile. "Over 500 dai channels and there ain't a thing on."

He stopped flipping through the channels and leaned back in his chair. Jonus growled deeply as he tried to rub some of the tension out of his neck. His eyes slid shut as the man on the screen went on about the apprehension of two groups of warring farmers on Harvest yesterday.

That's when it hit him. His eyes flew open, and he sat up straight as he pushed his seat closer to the console. Jonus began punching in a code to the Cortex.

The screen went black for a moment before a picture flickered to life. The picture was soon replaced by another, and another. The images continued to flicker across the screen until the one he had been looking for appeared.

"Niu zai ai shan yang nong fu!"

----------------------------------------------------

"I ruttin' told you I'd seen her before!" Jonus announced proudly as he slapped a Cortex printout onto the table in front of his partners. "When I broke into those police systems on Harvest you remember, when I checked that bar brawl vid to make sure it was, Cobb? First thing that pops up on the system is the current wanted, startin' with the most dangerous an'…"

"An' the most expensive!" Gunther cut in staring down at the wanted poster Jonus had printed out. "Didya see how much their offerin' for her? Oh, River Tam, baby I love you…"

"What's she wanted for?" Sammus asked trying to catch a peek at the wanted poster Gunther was closely studying.

"Who cares?" Gunther asked dropping the poster back to the table. "Girl's worth over twice what Higgins was offerin' for Cobb."

"You're shittin' me."

Gunther pushed the poster over to Sammus with a wicked leer. "I ain't."

"I say we call up whoever wants her an' tell 'em where to meet us once we land." Jonus said excitedly.

"Higgins said we ain't to touch her."

"Sammus!" Gunther barked angrily. "Twice as much…" he complained in a whiny voice both of the other men could live with _never_ hearing again.

"He was the biggest bounty we ever come by Sammus." Jonus joined in on the whining, if they couldn't convince him to turn the girl in maybe the two of 'em could annoy him into agreeing. "You can't seriously mean for us to just ignore…"

"I mean for us to do what we're gettin' paid for." Sammus stated standing up from the table angrily. "You two'd be best off doin' the same."

With that Sammus stomped out of the mess and down towards the passenger rooms.

The ship wasn't all that big, room enough for six men to live comfortably enough. It was compact and fully loaded, not only did it have room enough for stowin' prisoners and food for months but it was brimming with guns. Sweetest, an' cheapest, ship any bounty huntin' group could ever ask for.

As Sammus distractedly made his way to his room, Higgins did the same. The two came close to colliding with one another in the narrow corridor.

Sammus mumbled out an apology, deciding it was safer to stop moving all together than risk trying to move around Higgins and end up possibly crashing into the man again. He was a mite bit tetchy as it were. Didn't need to go 'round addin' fuel to his fire.

Higgins grunted unbecomingly and turned to continue his way to the room he was given for the duration of the trip.

"Uh, sir." Sammus called out, he couldn't shake the feeling that the other two were right. That River girl would get them all the cash they needed to do whatever they might want to do for a while, and men like them could imagine a lot given that kind of monetary support. "About the girl…"

"Do whatever you want with her." Higgins cut him off.

Sammus stared forward, awestruck at the luck those words held for him.

"Whoever she is he doesn't want me to know." Higgins explained, mistaking the look on Sammus' face with that of confusion instead of pure unadulterated joy. "An' I told him I wasn't going to ask again. So whatever you can think of, do it."

Sammus continued to stare, slack jawed, down the hallway as Higgins retreated to his room. Before the door quietly clicked shut, Sammus had spun around and stared to make his way back up to the mess.

The other two men were still seated around the table, angrily discussing the stupidity of letting something so valuable go to some old geezer that didn't know what he had.

Sammus burst into the room, a wide grin plastered to his face, as he looked to his partners. "Who the hell wants her?"

----------------------------------------------------

"There!" Simon shouted excitedly as he plugged in the last wire. "That's the last one."

Zoe nodded and leaned out of the engine room door. "I think we've got it now sir!" She shouted up to the bridge where Mal sat at the controls.

"Okay! I'm turnin' her on!" He shouted back before he moved to bring his girl back to life. He reached up above his head and flipped the first two switches. He sighed deeply and squeezed his eyes shut. "Come on, baby." He whispered quietly before flipping the final switch.

The lights flickered for a moment before turning off completely. "What the hell!" He screamed at no one, and everyone, all at once.

"The system is just rebootin', Cap'n." Kaylee's calm voice cut in over the Cortex screen, which was a good sign seein' as how it didn't go off and all meant that they still had some power and, more importantly, access to the mind that could help 'em work that power into something else more useable if'n this plan didn't turn out right.

"Just give her a second." Kaylee added in an attempted to sooth everyone's frazzled nerves, including her own. It had taken hours to get the ship ready to reboot her systems, more'n two of which she would never have needed if she were the one doin' the fixin'. It wasn't like the others could help it; they just didn't know how to get 'er workin' again.

Fixin' the engine was a lot like fixin' a person she figured. Sometimes you just know what's wrong and how to fix it. Other times you gotta suss it out, an' its harder'n hell to suss out a problem that needs fixin' over the gorram Cortex.

"Any second now…" Oh, if the power didn't switch back on quick, Kaylee was 'bout to pop.

The Cortex screen flickered once before all of the lights turned back on. The console shone bright and true, as if it had never gone off in the first place.

Mal beamed down at the blinking lights before turning that charming grin to the view screen. "You're a gorram genius you know that, Kaylee?"

"Aw, shucks, Cap'n, wouldn'ta been able to do a thing if it weren't fer Zoe an' Simon."

"And they wouldn'ta been able to figure out their heads from their…" He faltered slightly at his choice for words. He waved his hand about indifferently, deciding that was all the description that he needed to give. "Other parts…" He faltered again slightly before deciding to just get on with it. "Without you. You did good." He smiled up at the screen again as the noise of Zoe and Simon makin' their way up to the bridge echoed down the hall behind him.

"Speakin' of good." Mal announced spinning away from the view screen to look at his would be mechanics. He stopped short of continuing his sentence at the sight of his tough solider second and prissy doctor covered in all manners of engine grease.

When Mal didn't say anything, but instead stared at the pair mouth hanging open just slightly, Simon cut in. "Everything is still working up here, right?"

"What? Yeah." Mal answered with a small shake of his head before spinning back around to face the steering wheel. "Everything's shiny. You two got everything lil' Kaylee told you to do done?"

"Everything's workin' as good as it's gonna in the engine." Zoe cut in, in an attempt to cut down the awkward silences that had become a recent habit of all those onboard the ship within the last few hours.

"Then let's get us back to Harvest We got ourselves some people to be pickin' up."

----------------------------------------------------

Inara stood alone in the hallway, leaning up against one of the large pillars that framed the huge marble porch that came off of the training houses main room. The conversation she had just had with Lyssa still echoed in her mind.

Lyssa was right. If she didn't deal with the Guild soon there would be problems. Problems she didn't necessarily want to deal with, ever.

As she stood, lost in her thoughts, Kaylee came bouncing out into the main room. "I ain't ever been anywhere near as fancy as this." She stated, mostly to herself. "I mean, have you looked at the floors? They're all engraved an' painted an' stuff." Kaylee beamed over to Inara.

Inara stopped staring off at nothing and turned to her young friend. "It certainly is one of the finest crafted houses I've ever been in outside of the core." She smiled down at Kaylee, who did a little spin in the middle of the room. "How are things going with the repairs?"

Kaylee sighed heavily before she turned to Inara. "They took forever!" she grinned and moved towards the porch were Inara was still standing. "But they got it all fixed. Cap'n figures it won't be more'n a few hours 'fore they get back here an' pick us up."

"Good." Inara turned to look outside once again, deciding to once again put off what she should have dealt with years ago. "The sooner we're gone the less likely it will be that any of us can get into more trouble."

----------------------------------------------------

"You have the girl in custody?"

"Yeah, we've got her." Sammus stated again, to the fifth person he'd talk to since wavin' the people that wanted the gorram girl. "We've got River Tam, in custody, unharmed, and we want to turn her in."

"Give us your coordinates…"

Gunther shouldered his way into the picture "What about the money?" he asked hurriedly.

"You'll receive payment once we pick up the girl." The man on the other side of the screen answered coolly. "We'll have several units meet you once you land. They'll take the girl from you and keep her in custody until we can extract her ourselves. At that time, we will transfer the credits to your accounts."

Sammus grinned widely at the screen. He turned and gave Jonus a short, quick nod. Jonus nodded back and punched in the landing spot. "Sending coordinates now."

TBC

Author's Note: This chapter was going to be a good deal longer then this, but after that last line from Inara I felt this was a good place to end it.

Also I would like to say that I feel Higgins is a completely underused villain. I don't know about you guys but if I were him I'd want Jayne's head on a platter.

I have to say this one was really hard to write. It's hard to write about doing terrible things to someone you really like, and I just love Jayne so torturing him was not fun. What was even less fun was the research I put into the torture stuff. I read so many fanfic's (all in different fandoms then our own) that were written so incredibly bad that I decided the true torture of the story was derived from reading it. It wasn't all a loss, there are some good ones out there, its just you have to push through so much crap to get to them it's almost not worth it. If anything this chapter has made me appreciate all of you so much more (because loving you all as much as I do wasn't enough) I can't remember the last time I read a truly crappy Rayne fic and for that I thank all of you profusely.

I've also got to say I had this story planned up until this point so whatever comes after this will be a surprise for everyone because I have no idea what I'm going to do next.

Oh yeah and the Goat Tongue torture is real.


	6. Shades of Gray

Rating: R (for just an little more Jayne torture and River ass kicking)

Disclaimer: Pftt...please!

Authors Note: It's been awhile eh? I know the last chapter I put up was on March 27th, sorry about that, but I've been having a bad month.

Okay what do you need to know? Erm…I dislike writing action scenes, I'm still a little iffy on my Mal in this chapter, I feel he might be a little OOC le gasp!

So…its 8,265 words which makes it the second longest chapter I've spat out. I'm wondering if maybe I should make the chapters shorter and just have more of them? What does everyone else think about that?

Thanks as always goes to mik109 for always offering hugs on my bad days...oh yeah and she did that beta thing for me.

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"No!" Mal yelled at the screen in front of him for what he could swear up and down was for the hundredth time in the last thirty minutes. "I realize we didn't contact you before we set down last time. I told you our communications were out. That's why we walked over to you and paid face to face." Mal growled out. He was about ready to shoot the damn view screen just so he didn't have to explain it again.

"We have no record of your payment from four days ago."

"That's your gorram problem, not mine. I paid an' that's that." Mal grabbed a hold of the piece of paper he had placed on the console before waving the docks. He crumpled it in his fist as he waved it about in front of the camera. "I got the ruttin' proof of it right here!"

"You'll have to dock, and we'll need to check the validity of the paper work." The monotone voiced man on the other side of the screen answered, obviously uncaring of the amount of annoyance the whole ordeal was having on Mal. "While you're docked you ship will be searched by local authorities in accordance to…"

"What?" Mal cut him off, clutching the piece of paper in his hand even tighter. "What do you mean searched?"

"The local authorities have the proper warrants for search and seizure on all ships docking on the planet for as long as they see fit. Several individuals wanted for questioning, escaped four days ago. I guess it has something to do with that."

Mal tensed at the comment, thankful that the man on the other side of the screen didn't seem quite bright enough to realize that four days ago was when they had left Harvest. "So why are they searching incoming ships?" He asked as offhandedly as he could, which considering the lump that was growing in his throat wasn't all that offhand.

The career bureaucrat glared at the screen in front of him. This really had been a terrible day for him. First, his girlfriend left him that morning. Then, he was late so his boss yelled at him, and, now, this ben an de yi ge kong jian niu zai wouldn't stop asking questions. "I don't know. I don't work for the authorities. Maybe you should ask them." He answered in his most sarcastic voice, and attempted to stifle the sigh that he wanted to let loose.

Mal stared out the front of the ship, the deep green and blue planet of Harvest looming ahead of him. This did not bode well for his crew or him for that matter. If they were searching incoming ships, the authorities knew some of the crew had been left behind. They hadn't talked to 'Nara or Kaylee since the ship got fixed two days ago, and they still hadn't seen hide nor hair of Jayne n' River.

"Sir!"

Mal's head snapped back to the screen in front of him. The same annoyed and deeply depressed face he'd been arguing with for the last half an hour stared back at him.

"You have clearance for dock 7A in half an hour." The annoyed monotone voice droned on, uncaring of the lack of a response from Mal. "Be ready for the search and have your paper work with you. Head straight to dock controls so we can verify your payment from your last visit." With that the screen clicked off.

----------------------------------------------------

"Is he going to stride in here and sweep you off your feet?"

"Simon?" Kaylee stared at the girl in front of her as the young mechanic fought hard to keep her face from breaking out into the huge grin that always came from conversations about her bao bei. "Well, he ain't really the sweep ya off your feet type of guy." Kaylee answered stifling a giggle.

The girls around her however all began to giggle like mad, something that made Kaylee feel like she was back home hangin' 'round the barn with all her friends gigglin' 'bout each other's crushes an' the like.

The only difference was that all the girls crowded around her were dressed in fancy silks and were trainin' to be certified Companions, that an' she was the only one with a guy to be giggling over. She, little grease hog Kaylee, gal from the rim, had her very own well to do doctor to giggle over.

"Is he handsome?"

"Oh, god, is he ever! Most beautiful man I ever laid eyes on." A few of the girls giggled at the thought, though most of them just sighed dreamily. "He's got the prettiest blue eyes, an' that body! Honestly, I don't know why he wears all those layers, just hidin' a good thing."

The girls all began to giggle again an' Kaylee was pretty sure that if any of their teachers were to catch 'em there would be some serious reprimanding. Honestly, some of the Companions were worse then the Captain.

The pair of large wood doors that the girls were all crowded around swung open, and Inara glided out into the open hall.

"Hey, 'Nara." Kaylee called out to her. Inara tensed at the sound of her name, which she barely believed possible due to how tense she already felt when she left the last room. She turned to address the voice and relaxed when she saw that it had only been Kaylee who called out to her and not Lyssa. She smiled at her friend who was currently sitting amongst a horde of young trainees. "Got everything with the Guild handled?"

"In a sense." Inara walked over to the gaggle of giggling girls and grinned down to her young friend. "What are you girls up to?"

"Oh, nothin'." Kaylee beamed up to her. "I was just askin' 'em 'bout bein' a Companion an' they was askin' 'bout Simon an' workin' on Serenity."

Inara smiled down at her friend's obvious joy at being the one envied by all the girls, especially ones that would one day become Companions. "Yes, well, don't get too loud. You don't want Lyssa coming along and ruining all of your fun. Don't think I don't remember how it was during training, all of that practice on how to pour tea or light incense." Inara smiled at the group, who had all took to giggling again.

The girls all giggled at the thought of sneaking about when they should all be studying or practicing their tea pouring or calligraphy.

"Oh, hey, 'Nara? Did you wave the Cap'n 'fore you talked to the Guild like you said?"

Inara stopped dead in her tracks, back stiffening at the mention of Mal. "I did, but they never answered. I'm sure they were just busy. They are bound to be landing within the next few hours, especially if they've been fortunate enough to avoid any more problems."

-----------------------------------------

"Higgins said we could do anything we want with her." Gunther growled out in sheer annoyance, throwing more then his fair share of death glares toward Jonus at the helm of the ship.

"Damn, Gunther, you ain't still thinkin' on that are you?" Sammus asked, an amused grin plastered to his face as he walked onto the bridge.

"I'm a victim of circumstance, Sammy."

"I thought you called it your pecker?"

"What? No! Oh, hell, I ain't talkin' about that! I'm talkin' about us gettin' paid, and how our fearless navigator and apparent plan maker is screwin' with those plans."

"What are you going on about?"

"Go on Jonus, tell 'im the new plan." Gunther almost yelled out as he moved to stand next to Sammus.

"We're setting down in ten, could you both just shove off and lemme land the damn boat?"

"I ain't goin' anywhere till you tell Sammus the gorram plan!"

"Fine, you ning luo pang tun bu, I'll tell 'im. You know how we sent the coordinates so we could have the cops meet us when we set down?" Sammus nodded, though Jonus couldn't see it as he was busy starting the landing sequence. "Well, I figured that wasn't too smart. So instead, we're gonna set down somewhere else, and then take the girl somewhere safe where the cops'll meet us, take her off our hands, and give us the money."

Gunther growled again as he angrily gestured towards Jonus. "Why've ya got to go and change the damn plan once we got it all figured out Jonus, you dai hou ai yi chi?

"If'n Higgins figures out how much she's worth do you really think he's just gonna let us waltz out of here with her?" Jonus asks as he flips an overhead switch and punches several keys on the controls before him.

Gunther glared at Sammus before sighing deeply and turning back towards Jonus "No." he barked out, still extremely annoyed at the whole situation.

"No." Jonus repeated with a self-satisfied little grin, one Gunther would be all too willing to wipe off his face right now. "So we land, collect our money from Higgins an' go our separate ways. Take the girl, meet the guys that'r gonna take her offa our hands, get our money from them, and we'll be rich men twice over."

"I don't know. I've got a bad feelin' about that plan." Sammus finally cut in, half in an attempt to keep Gunther from skinning alive the only one on the xing jiao boat that could land it but mostly because there was something off with the plan.

"What? What problems could you have? It's foolproof." Jonus turned to stare at the two men behind him, something that made Sammus a bit worried seeing as how when he's staring at them he can't see where he's flying the ship, an' the planet was getting closer by the second.

"Nothin' is foolproof, especially since you two are involved." Sammus sighed heavily again. "Look, the longer we've got her the more chances she's got to get away."

"Oh, common, what can a bitty thing like her do to us?"

Sammus just glared at Jonus and continued as if he had never spoken at all. "An' the more chances she gets the more likely it is she'll get away. 'Sides, the longer we've got her, the longer we gotta wait to get paid."

"And if we just trade her off as soon as we land Higgins and his freak torture boy Mick 'r gonna know somethin's up. I'd take the girl tryin' to get away a couple times than Mick gettin' cut happy on me any day."

Gunther growled again as he leaned up against the bulk head. "I hate to say it, but the shao la shi has got a point. I'd rather deal with the girl."

"Fine, we do it your way then. Wave the coordinates of the room we were gonna stay in, have 'em meet us there. An' get your eyes back to flyin' the damn boat." Sammus said as he turned to leave the bridge. "Can't collect any money if we crash."

----------------------------------------------------

He wanted to tell them everything, anything, things he never knew, things he wished he never knew, whatever they wanted him to say he was ready to say it.

Most parts of his brain had shut off in order to cope with the stress, and he knew if he didn't get a break soon, he was gonna die. Die a horrible and bloody death all over a bunch of money he never got to spend an' a crap heel moon he'da been happier never seein' again.

His body felt like fire and ice were climbing through it, and he was spitting blood from internal injuries, not to mention he was pretty sure his shoulder was dislocated from hangin' there for so long.

Reasonable thought had been wiped from his mind as he felt his ribs crack under the strain of the bar Mick had begun to use on him.

The metal bar slammed into his hip. He cried out sharply and tried to pull away from the man whose sole purpose seemed to be breaking every bone in his body. The very same body that was currently betraying him, and it was pissing him off almost more then the prick that was doing the beating, almost but not quite.

He couldn't keep his eyes open let alone focused on anything, and he needed to keep them open. He'd already passed out twice, which just made Mick angrier when he woke back up, and that meant Mick would change it up and pick a new object to beat 'im with. Granted the bar was a helluva lot better than the whip, and he did not miss the electric shock at all. The point was Mick was getting down to the sharp and pointy things, and Jayne did not want to see what he could do with those.

----------------------------------------------------

The ship landed with a heavy thud and a small squeak of protest from the landing gear. Jonus flipped the last few switches and shut down the ship. He grinned broadly to himself as he pushed his chair back and stood up, stretching his back out as he did so. They were all about to become very rich men.

He spun around and strutted down the hallway towards his room. All he had to do was grab his gun, say his farewells to Higgins an' grab his money. Then, it take the girl to the hotel, and after that they were home free.

As he turned the last corner to his bedroom, he briefly contemplated how lucky he was. Honestly, getting so much money so easily should be ruttin' illegal, he mused as he punched in the code to his door's lock.

The lock clicked, and Jonus pushed open the door. He looked at the wall opposite his bed, which was covered completely by guns. Most had been his pa's, and boy had that man been pissed when he found out his only son wanted to be a pilot instead a joinin' the law enforcement back home. Then again, pissed was a rather harsh way of puttin' it. He was mostly just disappointed, and Jonus would hate to know how disappointed his Pa would be of 'im if'n the man knew what he was doin' for a livin' now.

But he didn't know. Hell, he didn't exactly have a long time to be disappointed with 'im for the whole pilot thing, what with dyin' the next month an' all. But he did and that was that. Jonus found himself in the possession of all the guns he could ever want, even if he was complete go se with 'em.

He grabbed the six shooter off the end and shoved it into his holster. He spared one last glance at the one faded photo hangin' from his wall, weren't the time to be dwellin' on the past, 'specially seein' as how the future was looking all kinds of bright.

Rubbing his hands together and again grinning broadly, Jonus spun around and slammed his door shut. It was time to see Higgins off, and get this show on the road.

----------------------------------------------------

Higgins stood a few feet away from the slowly lowering ramp, more then ready to get off this la shi dong xue ship. Two of the three men he had hired to find Cobb were standing behind him muttering to themselves, about what he really didn't care, but he was sure it involved him somehow. It always involved him when it came to people like them.

"No…no…would you shut up and let me handle everything?" Sammus rumbled out, half-glaring at Gunther and half-watching Higgins every move.

"Why do you hafta handle it?"

"What? Gorramit 'cause I'm smarter'n you, Gunther. That's why!" Sammus answered in a harsh whisper.

Higgins half-growled and half-sighed in sheer aggravation, though the sound was covered by the lowering ramp, and turned to glare at the two men behind him. "Stop your muttering." He barked out causing both of the men to stare at him in silence. "What is it you two are going on about?"

"Well, sir, we were just discussing the future of the girl." Sammus answered first, thankful that Gunther was finally taking his advice and letting him handle the situation.

"Kill her."

"That don't exactly work fer us." Gunther cut in with a cocky smirk.

Higgins glared at the larger man for a moment. He was almost as large as Cobb was, a bit skinnier and far greasier. The end of his nose sat at a slight angle on his face, obviously it had been broken before, and he had a large pink scar down the side of his neck. He would have been quiet intimidating if it weren't for the slightly shorter form in front of him.

There was no doubt that Sammus was the one in charge on that ship. He might not be as utterly horrifying as the man behind him. In fact, he would be considered almost attractive, almost but not quite. He was well built, only an inch or so taller than Higgins himself. He had shaggy blond hair and gray eyes. If it weren't for his rotted teeth, the man would have been very popular with the ladies. This was the thought that brought Higgins back to the current situation.

"I don't care what works for you. She is a witness, and I won't have her going to the authorities and getting me into trouble just because you want a little toy."

"Now, hold on a minute…" Sammus tried to again cut in.

"You said we could do whatever we wanted with the girl, an' we want to keep her." Gunther spat back at Higgins, ignoring Sammus completely.

"I said you could do whatever you wanted with her. I never said for how long."

Gunther turned the enormous gun he had stole from Jayne to aim it squarely at Higgins chest. "Well, I'm sayin'."

"Put your gorram gun down, Gunther." Sammus said as he glared at the man in question over his shoulder, deathly calm about the whole situation. "Now!"

Gunther glared at Higgins for a moment before turning his glare to Sammus. After a moment or two, he dropped his gun.

"Now," Sammus continued turning back to Higgins. "We want to keep the girl."

"And why would you want to do that?" Higgins continued to stare down the larger man behind Sammus as he answered.

"'Cause that's our job." Higgins eyes moved from Gunther to Sammus and narrowed slightly. "She's a fugie, so even if she did talk to the Alliance ain't exactly like they'll believe her."

"A fugitive?" Higgins stared at the two men for a few moments longer. "What's her name?"

----------------------------------------------------

Inara sat in the room she was sharing with Kaylee, eyes unfocused as she lit the incense before her. She slowly brought back the incense burner and blew out the flame. The perfect silence of the room crashed down on her as she stared at the wall opposite of where she sat, her mind drifting back to only hours earlier.

i "We want you to make the choice as to your future with us, Ms. Serra."

"You want me to make the choice, so long as it's the choice you want me to make." Inara shot back, quickly losing her calm as she continued to argue with the wave from the two women and one man in front of her.

The woman on the far left side smiled sweetly, something Inara found disgustingly false considering the conversation they were having. "Inara, we need you. After everything that's taken place you know we need you."

"We wouldn't be having this conversation if you weren't vital to our continued progression of the Guild to the rest of the planets in our solar system." The man cut in, his voice as even and calm as it had been when Inara had first waved them.

"Our progression is not now, nor has it ever been, hindered by the events of the last few months." Inara continued, determined to make her point and leave this whole mess behind her. Or at least attempt to leave this whole mess behind her, she wasn't so sure that she would ever be able to really leave anything behind her for very long. "Miranda doesn't affect the Guild in the slightest."

The three stayed frustratingly silent as Inara continued to plead her point.

"Or does it? I know clients can sometimes get talkative afterwards, and almost all of the companions still located in the core have served important government officials at least once." Inara stared at the three in front of her, for the first time in years actually disgusted with the idea of the people she worked for. "You knew."

"Ms. Serra," the man cut her off, "what we did or did not know is of no importance. The fact of the matter is we want you back in the training houses, and, if you are unwilling to make that compromise, then we will be forced to take actions to ensure that you will."

Inara stared at the screen in front of her, eyes wide and worried. "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what we are talking about." He answered still deathly calm.

"You can't." Inara shook her head as worry edged into her voice. "You won't. That would harm the Guild, and cause more damage than just allowing me to be."

"Ms. Serra," the woman on the right gave Inara a small grin that made her queasy. "Do you really believe that we would be so foolish as to jeopardize ourselves?"

"We have strong ties with the Alliance, Ms. Serra." The man continued "Ties that allow us certain liberties, hard earned liberties to be sure, and we will utilize them in the ways in which we feel most fitting." He said with a hard glare through the screen at her. "We will make certain that what you are is known, and we will be the last ones blamed for it. We will appear to be as shocked by the information as everyone else."

"Then you won't have a choice; there is no going back after that." He smiled again, and Inara knew that she had never had a choice, if the Guild wanted her to go back to the training house then that is exactly where she was going to go. "You would be extricated from everything you know. Your entire way of life would have to change."

Inara stared straight ahead, damning the tears that had begun to prick at the back of her eyes as he continued on. "The people on that ship with you will accept you no matter what. After all, each of them has their own history, and there's nothing we can do about that." He stated offhandedly, breezing past the issue as if it was something trivial. "The rest of the Universe, however, won't be so forgiving. They don't have to be. And when money starts getting tight, and everyone on that ship is pulling their weight but you, what do you think will happen? Do you really think they'll keep you around when you have nothing to offer them?" /i 

A gentle pounding the door behind her snapped Inara out of her trance. She turned to the door as a young blond girl stepped in.

"Ms. Serra, I hope I'm not disturbing you."

Inara jumped into the role of Companion instantly. "Not at all." She replied sending the girl a gentle smile. "What did you need?"

"You have a group of visitors, Ms. Serra. They are waiting for you in the main hall." The girl answered smoothly.

"I'll see to them. Thank you." Inara responded.

The girl bowed slightly, spun around and left without another word, leaving Inara to her thoughts for a moment. She took a deep breath as she turned back to the incense before her.

----------------------------------------------------

The three stood in the middle of a large, and very impressive, entryway.

"This certainly is a big…round room." Mal stated to no one in particular as he spun in place, taking in the room around him.

"That it is, Sir."

Simon nodded dumbly from next to Zoe, mouth hanging slightly open. He had never visited a Companion training house, let alone one of the two most secluded ones in the 'Verse. "It's absolutely…" He turned to see a group of Companions, or trainee's most likely, coming down a short staircase to the left of him. "Breathtaking…" he finished quietly as his eyes met with those of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen as she stepped into the room.

"Simon!" Kaylee practically yelled as she ran across the huge room and into his open arms. "I was so worried 'bout ya." She said hugging him tightly.

"We're okay too." Mal said melodramatically from behind her.

Kaylee sighed happily and moved out of her hug with Simon. "Oh, I was worried 'bout you too, Cap'n." Kaylee said looking over her shoulder at him. "The both of ya." She amended giving a small grin and nod to Zoe.

Zoe gave her a small smile back, though it never did reach her eyes. "You woulda still been worrin' on us if it weren't for you."

"Yeah, I told you lately how much I love my mechanic?" Mal said, giving up any semblance of the fight he would tend to be having with his face to keep from i not /i smiling at Kaylee's sheer overabundance of joy.

"Not for at least four days." Kaylee beamed at him.

Mal scoffed at the comment, his grin falling into a smirk. "Well, those four days have been far kinder to you than the rest of my crew."

Kaylee looked around at the three of them. "I can see that." Each of them was dirty in one way or another and all obviously exhausted. "Ya looked like the cat drug ya in." She said, seriously trying to fight back the grin she so very much wanted to wear. Her eyes danced amongst the three of them, "Cap'n's covered in all kinds a dirt. Zoe's got more gunk on her than I ever seen before."

As her eyes fell back to Simon the grin broke free. She scrunched up her nose and grinned broadly at him. "An' look at you…" She ran her finger down his nose, wiping the grease off it. "You're all covered in engine grease…An' I'm the clean one." She announced proudly to everyone around them. "Me!"

Simon grinned at the obvious elation this fact brought Kaylee, only now really looking her over. "You look beautiful." He stated, quietly so only she could hear, a gentle smile playing across his face.

Mal only glared at the hugging couple and shook his head in disgust.

"Mal." Inara's voice brought his head snapping to the short stairs that lead to the travelers rooms. "What took you all so long?"

"What us? We woulda been here over an' hour ago, but Negative Nancy over there made us check every gorram bar between the docks n' here. Kept goin' on about how something awful musta happened. It's a wonder to think he ever worked with sick an' dyin' folk."

Simon glared at the captain. "They could have been in any of those bars." He shot back, choosing to ignore the name. "Besides I'm not entirely to fault. Dealing with the docks and being searched took an hour or so."

"You were searched?"

Mal nodded turning to look at Inara again. "Apparently, they're lookin' for something, or someone…"

"They weren't exactly talkative." Zoe continued as she too turned to face Inara. "Just breezed on, searched the ship and left. Never once said what they were lookin' for."

"Whatever it is, they didn't find it on Serenity. So I guess that makes us lucky twice over." Mal finished with a happy grin, the kind that he had been wearing more and more as the days moved on and things on the ship started returning to normal. Inara seriously doubted things would ever be like they used to on the ship, let alone normal, but they were settling into everything.

Inara nodded at the two before continuing. "So, what's the plan?"

Mal's grin fell at the word plan, granted mostly just because him an' plans that didn't involve lots of guns tended to not work out so great. "What?"

"The plan, as in the plan to find River and Jayne and get off this planet and back to what it is we do." Inara answered. Her small and hopeful smile of being whisked away by her knight in white armor before anything with the Guild could get any worse began to slowly fade as Mal continued to just stare at her. "You do have a plan, right?"

"Well, yeah. It's just…" He made a face, his classic 'I must come up with something quick' face, as he shifted from foot to foot in front of her. "I'm workin' out the kinks." He finished with a small wave of his hand.

"Is one of the kinks you not actually having a plan?"

"That might be one of the bigger ones, yes…"

Inara shook her head before turning and starting back up the stairs and towards her room.

Mal sighed slightly as he watched Inara storm up the stairs, a quiet string of Mandarin flowing in her wake. "We need a plan, Zo'."

"I gathered that much, Sir."

----------------------------------------------------

"So let me get this straight. Our whole plan hinged on the fact that Higgins would let us keep the girl and do with her as we pleased, but without him knowin' who she was an' what she was worth. Right?" Jonus asked as he stared at his two cohorts. "An' then you went an' told him who she was an' why we was keepin' her anyhow?"

Sammus glowered at the shorter man if he wasn't so damned good at flyin' he woulda plugged Jonus long ago.

Gunther looked from Jonus to Sammus and back, secretly loving how very irritated Sammus got every time he had to work closely to their know-it-all pilot. "That's the short of it." Gunther answered, earning him a good glare from Sammus.

Jonus nodded slowly, seemingly staring off at nothing as he worked things over in his head. "An' how is that anything like the plan?"

"Would you just yao di yu shang yi bai fen hong se xiao ma, Jonus!" Sammus shouted, slamming his fist on the table in front of him. "Ain't exactly like we had much of a choice anyhow. He wanted us to kill her, an' Gunther was goin' off half-cocked." Gunther growled at having the blame planted on him, didn't matter if it were the truth or not. "'Sides, it don't matter none anyhow. Soon as Higgins heard she was a fugie he let us have her."

Jonus shook his head slowly, a confused expression pulled across his face. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would he just let us have 'er after he found out how much she's worth?"

Sammus glared at Jonus, though this time out of shocked annoyance more then angry annoyance. "Thank you, Jonus. Thank you for all that faith. Do you think I'm completely stupid? 'Course I didn't tell him how much she was worth! I ruttin' lied."

"He musta bought it too 'cause he left right after the conversation anyhow." Gunther added. Eyes glued to the door that lead out of the kitchen. His mind obviously more focused on the large sums of money that seemed to loom just out of reach.

Jonus looked at Gunther like he'd grown another head before Sammus finished the story. "Said he had business to attend here, and then he threw off some line 'bout not travelin' with corpses. Said he'd meet the body an' Mick at the docks in a few days an' that we were no longer needed."

"Also said our money was bein' transferred to us today." Gunther said, eyes moving from the door to the others at the table, a leer snaking its way onto his face again. "I'm thinkin' its time we start workin' on gettin' our other payday in order."

Sammus and Jonus both stared at Gunther. They'd all been thinkin' it, and truth be told not having to listen to whatever Mick had planned as the final act on Cobb was lookin' mighty fine in-and-of itself, let alone getting the pay off.

"We got a way to transport her to the room?" Sammus asked eyes turning back to Jonus.

"We can get a Mule," Jonus answered, turning back to Sammus. "I can get it rented out while you two grab the girl. Then all we gotta do is get her to the town 'bout 10 minutes away, and pick it up."

Sammus nodded at him. "Do it."

Jonus quickly stood from the table they had gathered around and headed toward the bridge.

"Let's go grab our girl."

----------------------------------------------------

The ship had gone silent over an hour ago. The engines were cut and communications turned off, and she was lost in the thrumming and chaotic sound that the silence brought.

She shot from mind to mind, never dwelling long on one, just pausing long enough to let a trickle of their thoughts wash over her. She had been doing so for the last few hours, in a futile attempt to figure out where they were headed. Unfortunately, no one was thinking about where they were going, just what they would be doing once they landed.

River had hoped the pilot would think about where they were going to land, or at least on flying. Instead, he kept imagining half naked girls on the beach, and odd alcoholic beverages served with a myriad of flowers and a little umbrella. A fat lot of good that did her.

The bigger one, the one who leered at her the way the men at the bar on Harvest had, kept thinking about sex, so she avoided his thoughts all together. The captain mostly thought about pool halls and casinos. Then he thought about the men he owed back on Persephone, and how much trouble he was going to be in once they found out he came into such good fortunes and never did intend trying to pay them back. He deserved to have his kneecaps beaten in so she left him to those thoughts.

Higgins' mind had become shut off ever since they had landed. At first, it had been consumed with anger, anger at the fact that getting what he had sought for so long had brought him so little joy. However, the anger turned into determination at the thought of getting his moon back, even though he knew he had no chance at it, with or without Jayne dead. Now though, his mind was all fog and mystery, and it concerned River more then she cared to admit.

Mick didn't think about anything but hurting Jayne. His mind was filled with darkness all rage and hate. He held more in common with a Reaver than any man she had ever known, even the ones at the Academy.

Then there was Jayne himself. She tried to stay away from those thoughts all together because every time she caught a glimpse of what was in his head she couldn't hold back the tears. She had to save him soon, because one way or another he wasn't going to last much longer. His mind was blank and body beaten. He would either give up and let himself die, or Mick would push him to death.

With a determined huff River tried again, and she began dancing from mind to mind allowing the sound of everyone surround her. Her breath caught at the last thought that flooded her mind. It was time.

Her head snapped to the side so she could stare at the thick door next to her. It wouldn't be long before those buffoons would be here, guns pointed, ready to drag her off of the ship and to town so they could collect their reward.

She strained her ears trying to hear them through the thick metal door that separated her from the rest of the ship. The quiet voices barely flitted through the heavy door, but she heard every word none-the-less.

"It's time."

----------------------------------------------------

The heavy metal door swung open with a rusty squeak and Gunther pushed inside. "Well, hello again there gorgeous." He smiled down at her, Jayne's gun pointed at her. "Get up. It's long past time we get paid for draggin' your skinny ass out here. Come'on." He gestured with the gun as River gracefully rose from the ground and eyed the man before her.

She shook her head slightly before she spoke. "It's not yours." She stated simply, staring at the gun in Gunther's hands.

Gunther grinned at her before looking down to the gun held tight in his hands. "It is now, princess." Rivers eyes darted up to his face at the name. "That's what men like me do. We see something we like…" He lifted the gun up in front of him a little further in an attempt to show it off and taunt her all at once. "And then we take it."

"You're out of your league." She said quietly, taking a tentative step towards him. "You have no idea what you have."

Gunther's crude leer didn't have time to leave his face before River moved. Her foot landed in his gut at the same time her hands wrapped around the gun.

Gunther stumbled back a step. He was hunched over and desperately gasping in an attempt to replace the air River had just knocked out of him. He straightened a little just in time to see the butt of the gun smashed into his face. With the crack of breaking bones ringing out, his body fell back, smashing into the adjacent wall.

Sammus' eyes grew wide as he watched Gunther clutch his nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding as he fell into the wall. He barely had enough time to turn towards the door before River flipped the gun around to barrel whip Sammus.

Jonus froze at the end of the hall, where he had been returning from the bridge and his renting of a mule in town, as he saw Sammus fall over. "Shit!" He grabbed for the gun on his hip, frantically trying to tug it free as River stepped out of the room.

River hefted the gun up again, ready to swing it down and knock Gunther out completely, when Jonus shot.

----------------------------------------------------

Mick froze, hand hovering over his table of gleaming tools. He tilted his head to the side slightly, straining to hear over the sound of Jayne's ragged breathing. There it was again, the subtle sound of gun fire echoing through the halls of the hollow ship.

Jayne felt the urge to laugh, or maybe cry he wasn't completely sure, but he didn't. Instead, he glared hard at Mick as he swayed slightly in the air. "Oh, now, you're in trouble." he croaked out, surprised at the hoarse sound of his voice. He'd expected the comment to come out silently what with all the screaming he'd been doing.

Mick looked over his shoulder at the once strong and hulking man that hung from his arms a good foot or two off of the ground just behind him. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he turned towards him. "And why is that?"

Jayne really was going to laugh at that, and only held it in because he knew it would hurt him a hell of a lot more than it was worth. So he settled for huffing in mild amusement. "'Cause, she's going to kill you."

Mick glared at Jayne before turning back to his table. He wrapped a meaty fist around a thick linked chain before he left the room.

----------------------------------------------------

The bullet only grazed her shoulder, but it was enough to get her attention off Gunther. River swung the heavy gun down. However, instead of knocking out, Gunther she turned and aimed it at Jonus. She squeezed the trigger and let out one shot before Jonus fell to the floor, bullet lodged between his eyes.

Gunther jumped up off of the floor as his pilot crumpled to the ground, far quicker than most men of his size would have, and threw himself at River.

The gun clattered to the floor as her small frame flew into the opposite wall. He pushed her flat against the hull of the ship and wrapped his arms around hers in an attempt to keep her from struggling too much. After all, the reward would only be given if she was unharmed.

River squirmed in his tight grasp, ignoring the sticky feel of the blood from his nose rubbing off into the back of her neck, and moved to push off the wall.

Grunting in frustration, and exertion, Gunther pushed down on her smaller frame even harder. He was more than willing to hand her off to whoever wanted her, but there weren't no way she was gonna be completely not harmed after she'd already killed one of 'em as it were.

Growling in sheer annoyance at the amount of time this was taking, River shifted her hips slightly, giving herself just enough room to kick her foot back and plant it firmly between his slightly spread legs. His grip loosened as he hunched over in pain, Mandarin flowing from his mouth, all empty promises of how he would kill her. After all, he would never risk losing all that money.

River spun around and kicked him across the face, sending the remnants of his nose straight into his brain. As Gunther's body collapsed on the floor, she turned to where Jayne's gun had fallen, intent on picking it up and making her way to the room where he was being held. Instead, she found herself frozen in place with Steve aimed at her.

"Don't you ruttin' move!" Sammus spat out as he struggled to stand and still aim the gun at the same time.

A smile fluttered across her face as she watched him stand before her. Sammus glowered at the little slip of a girl who stood before him, his eyes darting from Jonus' dead form over to Gunther's severely beaten and, hopefully, merely unconscious one. "What's so funny, little girl?"

She smiled blindingly at the man. "Safety," She whispered before she lashed out, sending the gun crashing to the ground, followed shortly afterwards by the newly dead form of Sammus himself.

She swooped down to grab for the gun just in time for a heavy linked metal chain to crash into the wall beside her. River sprinted forward, making sure to kick the gun into the next room, as she desperately tried to avoid the swinging links of metal that Mick seemed so intent on pounding into her.

River lost her balance as she ducked down, barely missing the metal Mick was again swinging at her. The chain cracked against the doorframe of the kitchen just before she smashed into the counter inside of the room as she fell into the mess. She spun around just as Mick flew into the room after her, chain swinging ready to attack again.

River kicked off the floor and rolled backwards, flipping over the counter that had been pressing into her back as the chain crashed into the edge of the counter behind her. The heavy metal sending splinters of fake wood into the air just behind her.

River grabbed the heaviest pan off the rack next to her and flung it at Mick's head. Mick batted the heavy pan away just in time to have another pan smash into his face.

River took the opportunity to dive out from behind the counters in the kitchen and under the large wooden table in the middle of the room. If she moved quickly enough, she could crawl out from under the table and reach Jayne's gun before Mick had enough time to catch her.

Mick growled in pain and spun around to glare at the area River had recently occupied. The sound of falling chairs brought his attention to the table, and River's quickly crawling form. He grinned and darted around the table in an attempt to cut her off.

River darted out from under the table right before Mick swung the heavy chain down again. Splinters from the table flew into the air in her wake as she slid across the floor. As her hand wrapped around the handle of the gun, Mick spun around to face her again.

As he lifted the chain up one last time, River rolled onto her back. Before he had time to swing the chain down, River pulled the trigger, and Mick fell to the ground screaming in agony. The chain fell to the floor with a violent twang of metal on metal.

River slowly stood up and looked down at Mick's bleeding and writing form. She glared down at him with obvious disgust on her face as he desperately clutched his bleeding crotch. Nothing more then incoherent wails of pain were leaving his mouth, but his eyes held all of the hate and rage he felt at the moment and said everything he wished he could.

"Deserve worse." She said simply. Then she pulled the trigger once more, and the screaming stopped.

----------------------------------------------------

The door flew open, drowning Jayne in light. He flinched against the glare and weakly rolled his head to the side to stare at the silhouette in the door.

It was probably the blood loss, but Jayne could swear she looked like a Bazooka wielding angel as she stood in the door frame with the light flooding in around her.

River stepped into the room, gun held tight in her hand, and stared at the man in front of her.

"Jayne." Her eyes drifted from his broken and bleeding frame to take in the room around her. As she took another step into the room her nose scrunched up in disgust. The room was small and covered in grime and dried blood and tears began to prick at the back of her eyes at the site of all of the blood stained objects on the table next to her.

River bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head and pushed the tears back. She bent down and gently laid his gun on the ground next to her. There would be time for tears later. Right now, he needed help. With a few quick strides, she moved across the room to where the chain wrapped around his arms was locked to the wall.

She loosened the chain and slowly lowered him so his feet were planted on the ground. River locked the chain again and hurried to Jayne's side. She reached up and unlocked his wrists, causing Jayne to groan.

His heavy and sticky form fell forward onto her, and the small girl suddenly found herself trying to support his entire weight. With a muffled 'oh' of surprise, the two of them began to sink to the floor.

He was breathing heavily, though she was almost certain that was due entirely to the intense amount of joy she felt rolling off him. He grabbed her upper arms as hard as his weakened state would allow, and he desperately gasped in shaky breaths.

They were both sprawled out on the floor, and River sighed deeply. She closed her eyes and leaned forward. Wrapping her arms around Jayne's neck, she slowly ran her hands through his short hair. "Shhh…its okay." She whispered softly against his ear stopping him from trying to say anything. "I've got you….I've got you."

----------------------------------------------------

Two men stood at the top of the ship's lowered ramp, eyes scanning the small docking bay. The taller of the two spotted an officer coming down the stairs that led to the crew quarters. He took a few steps and met the officer in the middle of the cargo bay.

"Sir, the ship's empty." The officer stated as he held his gun at ease. "There isn't anyone living on this boat."

"Living?"

"There are four dead bodies in various rooms on the upstairs. None of them match the girl." He answered, staring down the slightly shorter man who had asked the question. With a curt shake of his head the officer continued, "No one's been here for a few hours. They must have found some kind of vehicle and taken it into one of the nearby towns."

The man nodded his understanding. "Call your men. We're leaving." The officer nodded and turned to jog back up the stairs to his men. The man walked back to his friend's side, eyes still scouting over every inch of the cargo bay, just in case one of the officers men missed something. "We missed her."

The taller man turned towards his companion, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "Doesn't matter. She was here an' that means we're getting closer."

The sun set the horizon on fire as it slowly lowered beneath it. A harsh wind kicked up dust and caused small dirt devils to dance around the ship. The taller man turned to look out across the desert horizon that stretched for miles and miles. "We're getting closer."

TBC!


	7. Continuous Frustration

Title: Continuous Frustration

Series: Bad Blood

Pairing: It's going to have a bit of all the canon, plus Rayne!

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: If I owned them that would make me a professional writer/God, and if I were a professional writer/God this story would be done by now…since it isn't I think it's safe to say that I don't own 'em.

Authors Note: I'm sorry…that's all I can say really. I had a terrible month followed by projects and exams up the wazoo, thanks to said projects and exams my brain was completely over flowing with needless information, and then I started having problems at work so…my Muse decided Canada looked better then my brain and she took off.

I just started summer school (costs less money and its quicker so I can get out of college as fast as possible without selling my soul) so I would imagine updates will be a good deal like this one with the long waiting. I'm terribly sorry to anyone that's been interested in the story and wanted to see where it was going, I know that waiting can be a real pain. And to those of you that read it and forgot about it, yeah I don't blame you.

Oh, and maybe it's just me, but my favorite thing about waking up is lying in bed and stretching just after you wake up, seriously it's sometimes the only thing that will actually get me to wake up in the morning.

I love my bridge builder! Mik109

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The warm air hung in the room along with the total silence. It would be eerie if it weren't so damn peaceful. This place was beautiful, there was no denying that, but that beauty hid something from everyone an' that made him more then a little uneasy.

The Guild was up to something, and if there was anything Mal didn't like, it was the Alliance, or the groups that supported the Alliance, bein' up to something. They were more then willin' to hold him an' his crew on Harvest for as long as they needed, an' Mal couldn't shake the feeling that in part had something to do with i _who_ /i they were lookin' for.

The warrant may've been taken down, but that didn't mean the Alliance didn't still want his pilot for something. The girl had a brain bigger then the whole damn Verse. No way Miranda was the only dirty little secret she had sneakin' about in her brainpan.

"Tell me you have good news, Zo." Mal asked with a slight cringe. He already knew she didn't. They'd been on Harvest for damn near two weeks with no news of their apparently lost crew members.

"The good news is they ain't dead." Zoe answered as she walked over to Mal's side. "But no one knows where they've gone either, sir. It's like they've just disappeared."

Mal sighed deeply and turned towards his second. "No one just disappears, Zoe, especially a guy like Jayne. Someone knows where they are. We just ain't found 'em yet." Mal answered as he turned and began to walk back towards his room. He needed to figure out who was most likely to want his merc dead.

"An' its likely we aren't going to." Zoe said stopping Mal in his tracks. Mal turned and looked over his shoulder at Zoe, giving her his patented blank face, which really was more of a mix of confused and angry if you asked her. "We've been here twelve days, sir. That means they've been off the ship for almost eighteen days."

"What're you sayin'?"

"I'm sayin' that askin' about for them ain't doin' it, sir."

"And what exactly do you think we should do? It's not like we can just count it as a loss and move on. I can't pilot the damn ship all the time an' you an' me ain't enough when we go on runs. As odd as it might be to think on, we need those two misfits more then I care to admit." Mal answered her. "So unless you've got a brilliant plan on how to find 'em, we're gonna keep askin' around. Somethin's bound to come up sooner or later."

-------------------------------------

Jayne's eyes slowly drifted open. His body felt heavy, like it had been stuffed with cotton, while his head had the odd sensation of floating. He blinked a few times trying to clear the haze from his eyes and realized the feeling was a lot like the one he got when he woke up in the med lab after one of Mal's regular jobs.

He breathed in deeply, taking in the musky sent of the room. Unfortunately, breathing in that deeply hurt like hell. He groaned deeply at the burning in his back and side as he turned his head to bury it in the pillow he was using, ignoring the small damp spot where he must have drooled on it.

"Morning, sleepy."

Jayne's head jerked up at the sound of a vaguely familiar female voice. He lolled his head to the side opposite of where he had been looking when he first woke up, and found River beaming down at him from a poorly stuffed sofa seat she must have pulled over to sit next to the bed.

"Have a nice nap?" She asked, the bright smile never leaving her face.

"Nap, huh? How long I been asleep?" he asked with a small yawn. "Don't feel like more'n a day." He muttered more to himself than her as he turned his head away from her in a vague attempt to work out the kinks that had just shown up.

River shook her head even though he wasn't looking at her. "No, you've been asleep for a long time."

"Yeah?" He turned his head back towards her, his neck in well enough order for the time being. "Well, time flies when you're having fun." He grinned over at her sarcastically.

"Or when you're in a drug induced state of comatose." River stated in that all too scientific voice she used sometimes.

"Coma…what?" He asked turning his head towards River as he lazily rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "What the hell do you mean coma?" He questioned hoarsely as he tried to look at her, though due to the midday light streaming in through the window just behind her he mostly just squinted at her. "How long I been out?"

River bit her bottom lip "247 hours, 35 minutes and 29 seconds, but you've been coming in an out of consciousness for…" she trailed off as she noticed him staring at her in disbelief.

He shook his head slightly before looking around the small room once again. "River….Where the hell are we?" He began to push himself up and off the bed so he could stand, or at least sit up straight, which was proving to be more difficult than it should have been.

"Don't!" River shot forward, her hands moving to lie gently on his shoulders. With a small push, she made him lay back down. "You've been unconscious for over 10 days. Your body's muscles have begun to atrophy from the lack of movement." Jayne shot her a pained and confused glare as she sat back in her chair. "Don't worry, the effects are only temporary and you will recover quickly due to the fact that you're…well…very large."

Jayne's face scrunched up in a confused anger as he lay on the small bed. With a low groan, he closed his eyes tightly and wished, not for the first time since he'd gotten stuck off ship with the crazy pilot, that he could just wake up from this horrible nightmare that had become his life.

River shifted uncomfortably on the chair she was perched on. She really hadn't expected the conversation to go this way.

She was prepared for him to be angry about being tortured, and then, thankful that she had saved him, thankful she had worked so fervently those first two hours after she had found him and thus kept him from bleeding to death, thankful she had run to the nearest town and gotten them transportation, thankful she had found them a place to stay until he was well enough to leave, thankful she did all of that and kept them from being noticed by anyone. She had expected him to be angry at anyone but her. He wasn't allowed to be angry with her. If anything, he should be thanking her.

With a deep and angry sounding sigh, Jayne looked back over to River. "Where the hell are we?"

River clenched her jaw slightly; still offended that he could even entertain the notion of being angry at her. "Newhall, in a small town not far from the capital city." She answered tersely.

"Newhall?" Jayne's eyes moved from River to stare at the wall in front of him as though it would tell him where he had heard that name before. The wall, in fact, was not in a very talkative mood, and Jayne was left with the nagging feeling that there was an important fact he should remember about Newhall.

"There aren't any Cortex connections on the planet except in the capital." River continued on, answering the question she knew he was about to ask.

"Well, we better get goin' then. Sooner we get a message out to Mal, the sooner he can come and pick us up which means this little trip from hell can be over."

River stared at him with that classic 'you're being a boob' face she saved for her brother all of the time. "You can't move yet. You're still hurt."

Jayne groaned as he again began to push himself up and off the bed. "I've had worse." He argued as he straightened his arms. Pain ripped through his body as he froze in a half push up, half laying down position.

"No, you haven't." She chastised as he continued to just sit there in his awkward position.

"Sure, I have." He continued, deciding it was probably a better idea to try moving his legs before he moved his upper body so much. "I've been shot plenty a' times." He slowly moved one leg forward into, what he currently decided, was a far more uncomfortable position then the one he had just been in. "An' stabbed…" He groaned again as he tried to make his other leg move to join the first one.

"You almost died."

Then he froze, the pain shooting through his body almost forgotten as her words hit him. It wasn't so much what she said, which coming from a man with such great self preservation instincts as his really said somethin'; as much as it was the way she said 'em. They were all quiet and sad, like the idea of him bein' dead bothered her almost as much as it bothered him.

He slowly turned his head to look at River, who sat ramrod straight and still as ever in that stained chair just looking at him. An' for some damn reason that he couldn't think of, the fact that he should thank her came floating into his head. As he stared into those big brown eyes of hers he really felt like he ought to say somethin' just so's she knew he was glad she hadn't let 'im die.

Jayne shook his head slightly and clamped his still open mouth shut, though he couldn't remember openin' it. His mouth suddenly felt too dry and he started to realize how very uncomfortable his current crouching position was for his back. He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath, figuring that just getting it over with would probably be easier then just sittin' there all uncomfortable like tryin' to figure out how to say thanks. "River.."

"You took care of me," She cut him off quickly, realizing how awkward he felt saying thank you to anyone. After all, just knowing that he would have said thank you was all she really needed. "Now, let me take care of you." She finished as her hands moved back to his shoulders before she gently helped move him back into his original spot on the bed.

He looked at her with what she could only describe as a sad puppy face as he laid down again. He buried his face in his pillow and breathed out a deep sigh of annoyance as she pushed his shirt up so she could see his entire back. Jayne groaned again as she surveyed the damage. "This is a bit worse than a bitty scratch on the arm."

"Yes, it is." She answered in that distracted scientific voice he was certain she learned from her brother.

Jayne glared at the wall in front of him for a few moments before deciding the walls in hotels were all boring. He looked over his shoulder and back towards River who was engrossed in checking his injuries. "You ain't exactly a doctor, 'less you've been hiding something kind of important from all of us."

"No, I'm not. I've never had schooling for proper medical procedures, and injuries sustained during my time on Serenity have been sadly lacking in severity so I have little experience to work from." She again answered in her slightly distracted scientific voice, which Jayne was beginning to realize he really did hate.

"Musta've learned something from that brother of yours," Jayne shot back over his shoulder, deciding that even a distracted conversation with her was better then just staring at the wall. "Lao tian ren, you've got his bed side manner." He muttered, the words muffled by the pillow he had again buried his face in.

River shook her head even though Jayne couldn't see her. "Could never do what Simon does."

"That's not exactly the kinda thing a guy wants to hear when he's going under the knife, qing ren." Jayne shot back at her, a small smirk playing across his face.

River ducked her head, letting her hair fall around her face, as she beamed at the endearment. "Then you have nothing to worry about," She answered looking back up into his face as he stared back at her over his shoulder. "I'm not using any knives." She finished with a small smile.

With a small huff of amusement, Jayne let his head fall back down onto the pillow, his head cocked to the side this time so he could still talk. "Yeah, I guess good ole Mickey did that enough for ya, didn't he?"

River frowned down at Jayne's mostly healed back. "Most of the damage has healed." She said as she moved from the edge of the bed over to the night stand, pointedly ignoring the mention of Mick. "Does it still hurt?" She asked as she began to rustle about inside a black duffle bag Jayne had just now noticed. "The ship's supplies of soothers are almost out. We have enough for another day or so if you need them."

"You've been takin' care of me for the past…240 some odd hours?" He asked, getting her to look up from the duffle bag and to him. "Usin' just what you snitched from that gorram boat we were thrown on?"

She stared at him with unsure eyes for a moment uncertain how to continue. She hadn't expected him to care how she had taken care of him, or how she had done anything she had done for the past 10 days for that matter. She knew he wouldn't be angry about her stealing from the men that had tried to kill him rather he would in fact most likely be thrilled by the idea, but even that didn't answer why he cared. She slowly nodded her head again, deciding that the last injection of smoother she had given him must still be in his system and was therefore the cause for all of the behavioral oddities he had been demonstrating.

He shook his head slightly in disbelief. "Well, they were well supplied then weren't they?"

River nodded slowly again, removing the medicine she had been hunting for. "It's fortunate that they had recently re-supplied. If they didn't have such a ready supply of different medicines, you would most likely have died from the blood loss, let alone the damage done to your back." River moved over to sit at the edge of the bed.

"Lucky me."

"The impairment to the Latissimus Dorsi and the Trapezius muscles alone would have taken conventional methods years to fix…"

He tensed slightly at the word 'years'. He didn't like the sound of 'years to fix.' Years was a long time to get fixed! "Wait, so…" He stared at her, trying to seem as calm as possible when the only thing going through his mind at the moment was her voice repeating 'years to fix' over and over again. "I'm okay, right? I mean, I'm not going to be all scarred, right?"

"Yes and no," River shook her head as she twirled the small tube of medicine she had gotten from the bag in her fingers. "This helps with the regeneration of damaged tissues. The epidermis and dermis have already healed enough to insure that any scarring will be unnoticeable."

Jayne stared at the small tube of what he had thought was ointment, which River was holding. "We should get some of that stuff for Mal. As often as he gets shot, I bet he'd like it."

"It's created from a mass of dedifferentiated proliferating cells of salamanders. The creation of the mutated blastema breaks eight different genetic laws, which makes it highly illegal to produce, let alone to attain." She recited off the facts as she removed the cap from the tube. "This might sting." She muttered before she applied it to his back.

Jayne gritted his teeth against the stinging that shot through his back.

River bit her lower lip as his body tensed and quickly finished applying the medicine. She put the now closed tube down on the bed next to her before she leaned over and began to gently blow on his back in an attempt to help lessen the stinging from the medicine.

Jayne's body tensed further the second her soft breath washed across the skin of his back. He had never in his life been so thankful to be in enough pain that his body didn't react like it would normally in a situation like this. Ain't like it was every day he had a pretty girl petting and cooing over him. Every muscle in his body had gone ridged and he gritted his teeth even harder as the stinging slowly began to fade.

River leaned back after a moment and bit her lower lip again as she stared down at Jayne's overly tense form. She sighed quietly before looking over to the chair she had been sleeping in for the past 10 days then back down to Jayne, who remained unmoving and tense, sprawled out on the bed.

No, she hadn't expected this reaction at all.

-------------------------------------

Mal ran a hand down his face with a deep sigh and groaned at the low clap of thunder that came in through the open doors and windows. His foot steps echoed in the long hallway as he resolutely marched towards…wherever he was going. It was damned impossible to not get turned around in the long and winding halls of the ornate companion house.

He always said it was better to keep moving than get stuck in one place, made it a point to live by that motto for a long time now, and it didn't seem like the time to stop listening to himself. Besides, Mal had all the time in the 'Verse to do whatever he wanted, wasn't like he had anyone waiting up for him and he needed time to clear his head and get things in order.

Nothing was going even remotely right for him, which in all honesty he was used to. For a month or two things were runnin' smooth an' it started to get to him. Ship had been in good shape, jobs had been going a bit better than usual, hell he hadn't even fought with Inara since…

Another clap of thunder rumbled in through the open windows and Mal stopped walking. He glared out of the huge windows that lined the hallway, as lightning flashed in the distance. This weren't the place he should be tryin' to clear his head that's what his cockpit was for, that was what his mess was for, hell it was what his whole gorram ship was for. It was places an' times like this he longed for the black. Somethin' was off about the place; somethin' that made his skin itch, but he couldn't quiet place it.

The quiet patter of footsteps just behind him had Mal's hand falling to his hip, and the very empty holster there. He bit back the groan of anger as he remembered the very strict rules Inara placed on him an' the crew while they were stayin' in the training house, one of which was no weapons. He glared down the hallway in front of him, ears straining to pick up on the footsteps he had just heard.

The open shutters pounded against the walls of the training house as the wind began to pick up and another shudder of thunder rumbled out. With a short snort of laughter, Mal shook his head, all of the stress of the last few weeks was finally gettin' to him, he was on edge a mite jumpy. He gave a quick glance over his shoulder and was greeted with an empty hallway, just like he thought.

Shaking his head, Mal continued on this walk to…where ever it was this hall lead to. As he turned a corner the next to silent sound of footsteps rang out. Mal slowed down his walking and listened hard. There was no mistaking it, someone was following him.

He decided to play it dumb and continued with his walk down the hallway, just 'cause he heard someone walkin' didn't mean they were followin' him. Mal rolled his eyes at himself, of course whoever was behind him was followin' him, weren't another soul on this side of the training house, which was exactly the reason he had chosen to walk there. Growling quietly to himself, Mal spun around to see…absolutely no one behind him. Maybe he was going mad, maybe after all of these years and everything he had been through he had finally snapped.

Mal turned and began to walk back towards, or at least in the direction he believed lead to, the main sittin' area where he had last seen Kaylee an' Simon. After a few more minute,s of walking the footsteps began again. He shook his head and decided to ignore the sound, choosing to instead concentrate on getting back as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately enough for Mal, his ability to ignore things was on par with his ability to have a civil conversation with Inara, so it didn't take more then a few minutes for him to have had enough. He didn't like this place much as it was, last thing he needed was someone doggin' his steps. With a determined glare, Mal spun once again and found himself alone in the hall.

Mal looked around him slowly, thoroughly confused. He knew someone was following him. He knew he heard footsteps echoing down the hallway that weren't his. He knew somethin' fishy was goin' on. With a small grin to himself, Mal took two large steps and leaned against the wall, staring back the way he had come from. If whoever it was that was following him wanted to hide, then he'd just wait 'till they checked to see if he started movin' again.

After a few moments of nothing happening, Mal began to get bored with waiting, after all patience was a virtue he never real cared for. He pushed off the wall he had taken to leaning against and determinedly marched down the hallway, making sure to scan each open door he passed.

"This is gettin' ridiculous." He muttered to himself as he looked around the bend in the hallway and still came up with nothing. Running an annoyed hand down his face, Mal turned to start his way back down the hallway and towards the others, the faithful thumping of footsteps following just behind him.

Since spinning around didn't seem to work, and tryin' to loose 'em was pretty much impossible, Mal was left with only one option, to out think them. He quickly racked his brain trying to come up was a suitable plan for discovering his stalker. As he walked down the hallway searching for a suitable, and fast acting, plan of action he caught sight of something beside him. It was subtle and muted but there in the now closed windows that lined the hallway, he could make out the shape of whoever it was behind him. Or in this case the whoevers.

There, plain as day, only a few feet behind him was a group of no more then six trainees, all gathered together and staying close to the wall, and thus the doorways they could use as hiding spots if he chose to turn around again.

Mal slowed to a stop, mouth hanging slightly open. "Huh." He stood for a moment, attempting to come up with something to say, but everything he thought of seemed to die before it ever had the chance to reach his mouth. He turned slightly, not enough to see the group behind him, but enough to send them quietly rushing to hiding.

Mal gave a glance behind him as he slowly began to start his way down the hall for the last time. With a few more quick steps, Mal found himself surrounded by ivory colored walls and huge richly colored pillows and seats.

"Hey, Cap'n. Thought you was goin' for a walk?" Kaylee chirped from her seat amongst the overly stuffed pillows and overly made up trainees.

"Kaylee…" Mal began in an as offhanded voice that he could muster "There a bunch a girl's followin' me?" He finished quickly giving her his 'I'm slightly annoyed and this is not a joke' face.

Kaylee stared up at him for a moment before leaning to the side and around him. Sure enough there was a group of 6 girls huddled together scooting into the room as covertly as possible. "Yup."

Mal nodded his head at the extremely cheery reply from Kaylee, slowly the nod turned into a shake of his head as his small bemused grin turned into an annoyed one. "Why?"

Kaylee beamed up at him. Honestly, there were times when the man was more than just dense. "Oh, Cap'n, they think you're swai." She answered biting her lower lip to keep from laughin' at the face he pulled at that news.

"Swai?"

She nodded quickly, still holding in the giggle that wanted to break loose from the face he just couldn't seem to shake. "They're just curious is all." She explained as he continued to look at her as though she'd gone an' sprouted another head. "They ain't ever seen a space pirate before."

Mal rolled his eyes and breathed out an angry sigh. "I ain't a pirate, Kaylee."

"I know that, but they got it in their heads that chya'are." Kaylee looked up at Mal, case of the giggles forgotten. She quirked her mouth to the side and shook her head a little as he continued to mope. "You should count yourself lucky, at least they're tryin' to sneak about when they're followin' you. They just flock after Simon gigglin' and the like."

"Of all the places in the gorram 'Verse…" Mal let his head fall back and took to starin' at the ceiling, holding in the sigh that usually would have come along with the act. He was sighin' more'n was healthsome as of late as it were. "There a single place here I can get some peace?"

"Don't get all touchy Cap'n, they've been followin' us all around," Kaylee pressed on "but I think me an' Zoe are gettin' followed for different reasons then you an' Simon. Well, other reasons for some of 'em, after all they ain't all…"

"Kaylee!" Mal cut the girl off before she could not only finish that sentence, but possibly go into detail as to how she knew they were all…you know. "Just…tell me where they're not."

"How should I know?" She asked, smiling brightly at him from her spot on the sofa seat. "Unlike some people I ain't tryin' to avoid 'em all."

Mal glared down at his mechanic half heartedly; honestly it was harder to glare at that girl then it was fightin' that gorram Operative back at Mr. Universe's. Shaking his head Mal turned to make his way back out of the room. As he strode over to the door that lead back towards the rooms they were given for their stay he caught sight of the six girls that had been following him. He gave them a hard stare as he marched out of the room, the sound of quiet giggles followed him the whole way.

-------------------------------------

Jayne groaned deeply, the pain in his back pulling him from his sleep. He sighed to himself, silently damning his own mind for allowing himself to wake up from the first really peaceful night of sleep he'd had in longer than he cared to admit.

He decided to fight against his ever waking mind and kept his eyes firmly shut, maybe if he just ignored the burning in his back it would fade some and then he could get back to sleep. So he growled deeply and wrapped his arms around whatever it was he had pressed to his chest more firmly and shifted in the bed, trying to find the most comfortable position.

That's when she moved.

With a little groan, that sounded far too much like a mewl, River snuggled down into Jayne's embrace.

His eyes shot open and his breath caught in his throat as he was met with the smooth curve of the girl's neck a hairsbreadth away. "Aw, go se."

Jayne's entire body went rigid as he wracked his brain to figure out why she'da climbed into bed with him an' made herself all cozy like. All he remembered was River givin' him another smoother 'cause his back was hurtin' somethin' fierce 'fore he went back to sleep, and unfortunately everything after that was kind of a blur. He stared at the small girl wrapped up in his arms and mentally kicked himself. For the first time since they'd landed on Harvest, Jayne was happy to be split up from everyone else, 'cause if any of the crew were to find 'em like this there would be some hell to pay.

River breathed in deeply and rolled away from Jayne, giving him the chance he was waiting for. He pulled his arms back and moved further onto the other side of the bed, an' as far away from the feng le pilot as possible.

Pain shot through his back with the small roll though, and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from yelping. The smoother River'd given him last night was most definitely outta his system now. Every little ache and pain was slowly making itself known to his ever waking mind, which annoyed him to no end.

River yawned loudly bringing Jayne's attention back to her. She groaned happily and stretched her arms out above her head. Jayne watched as she extended every part of her body, slowly stretching everything.

She hummed happily as she finally arched her back up and off the bed, allowing the muscles in her back to stretch for the first time in days. She laid quietly on the bed, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and eyes firmly shut. "Thank you." She mumbled sleepily as she turned her head and opened her eyes to look at Jayne.

He stared down at her, confused in more than one way thanks to the stretching she had just done. "Huh?"

"Thank you." She repeated, smiling over at him.

Jayne stared at the still smiling girl on the other side of the bed before he shook his head and moved into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, and further away from her. The pain that shot through his back at the simple movement brought his mind back to reality. "What the hell are you doin' in bed with me?" He barked out, choosing to not look at her when he asked.

"You told me to." She answered, the smile evident in her voice.

Jayne's head snapped to the side so he could glare at her over his shoulder. "The hell I did." He shot back at her, even though that sounded vaguely familiar to him.

River rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling of the room. "You did." She answered back, ignoring the angry tone to his voice. "You asked me to sleep in the bed and not on the chair."

Jayne's eyes jumped from River's reclining form over to the wall on the other side of the room as he mulled things over, that definitely sounded familiar. Jayne slowly closed his eyes in a vague sense of horror as last night started to come back to him.

"_What about you? You jus' gonna sleep in that ke pa old chair again?"_

"_Go to sleep." River said quietly pushing Jayne down into the bed. _

"_Can't be any matter of comfortable." He continued on ignoring her insistent urges to just lie down. He gave her a lop-sided grin._

"_You'll be sorry in the morning." She began again. "The smoother I gave you should last at least four hours and…" she trailed off as he continued to grin up at her. "Just go to sleep, Jayne." _

"_But what about you?" he asked as he leaned back in the bed._

"_You're very drugged…you get flirty when you're drugged."_

"_I'm always flirty." He said with another grin. "'Case you haven't noticed I like girls…"_

_River shook her head, fighting back the grin that wanted to break loose. "I've noticed. Now, go to sleep."_

"_But.."_

"_The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner I can go to sleep." She cut him off, talking in circles wouldn't do either of them any good._

_Jayne fell back onto the bed and watched as River slid down into the completely stained and hideously ugly sofa chair next to the bed. "Why don't you just sleep right here? It's a big bed, plenty a room for two."_

"_There's barely enough room for you, besides you like to cuddle when you sleep." River answered back smiling down at him._

"_I do not cuddle."_

"Zi de yin u gou…you couldda just ignored me!" He shouted as he pushed himself off the bed, the anger rushing through his system helping to dull the pain in his back.

"You wouldn't let me go to sleep until I agreed." River answered slowly, beginning to take offense at the tone he had begun to take with her.

Jayne scoffed at that as he glared around the room in search of his boots. "Yeah, 'cause a doped up mercenary is really going to be able to do somethin' 'bout you ignorin' him."

River pushed herself up so she could sit on the edge of the bed, her legs dangling off the side. She glared at Jayne's back, wishing, and not for the first time, that she could find a way of ridding herself of the mercenary without any backlash from the local authorities, or the crew for that matter.

"You kept whining and wouldn't lie still until I got into bed with you."

Jayne turned back to her and leaned down menacingly over her belligerent form. "First, I do'nt whine. And, second, you got onto the bed I was in, not into bed with me. Let's be clear about that."

River sighed angrily. "You are a stubborn pig headed man. If I hadn't done it you would have cause yourself more pain and we were out of smoothers. So I thought it best to humor your, obviously drugged pigu! Besides, I've slept in that gorram chair for over a week, by Buddah wo gai xie xiu ye. It's not like it was easy to take care of you all of this time."

Jayne blinked as River finished off her speech by leaning up toward him and yelling in his face. The crazy girl had beaten him up before, but she'd never yelled at him. He found he didn't like it. And, that made him damn mad.

Straightening up, he sneered, "Well, I'm better now so we'll just go send ourselves a nice wave to the Cap'n and get the hell of this rock."

"I told you the only place that has Cortex feed is in the capital city."

"Yeah, an' that don't make a lick a sense. How can a whole gorram planet only have one place where they can get any feed?" He asked angrily as he snatched his boots off of the floor.

"Upper atmospheric anomalies cause high levels of electro magnetic interference." River stated, her head cocked to the side and staring in the general direction of Jayne. He slowly turned to glare at her over his shoulder. "It can't get through." She said simply as she stared at Jayne with what could only be described as her 'I forgot you don't understand big words' face, something she was coming to use more and more around Jayne as the days went by.

Jayne rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "It can't get through, gorram back ass planet."

"What are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doin'? I'm gettin' ready ta leave."

"You can't. It's too far away." She explained from her spot on bed. She watched as he continued to lace up his boots and ignore her. "Too much stress on the Latissimus Dorsi could cause further damage and the Trapezius needs more time to regain it's strength and…"

Jayne stared at River as she counted off all of the reasons he couldn't leave, "Girl!" He cut her off before her head exploded or some such. "Calm down, I feel fine."

"You're a liar."

His head shot up at that and he leveled a hard glare at her. "What did you say?"

"You're a liar." She said again, unflinching at the quite intimidating glare he was sending her way. Intimidating or not, she was right. Besides, he'd glared at her before. "You don't feel fine. If you felt fine, you wouldn't have been so grumpy when you woke up."

"I ain't a mornin' person, girl. I'm always grumpy when I wake up."

She shook her head giving him a bemused look as she pulled her leg up to her chest. "Weren't grumpy yesterday." She explained as she rested her chin on her up drawn knee.

"Like I said earlier, that's 'cause I was still a bit loopy from all them drugs you used on me." He snapped back trying to wipe that small grin right off her face. "Ya know for a person who hates gettin' doped up so much ya sure are quick ta deal it out."

With a small sigh and a roll of her eyes, River gracefully stood up from the safety of the warm bed and moved over to where her boots were sitting next to the wall. "Liked you better when you were drugged." She mumbled as she slid to the ground to put her boots on.

"What a surprise, I liked you better when you were drugged too." Jayne shot back at her, along with a forced grin before turning back to where his gun belt was laid across the table.

Jayne gritted his teeth and groaned deeply at the feel of something hard hitting into his lower back. He turned around and glared at River who was sitting across the room from him with only one boot on.

"That ruttin' hurt!" He barked out as the stinging in his back slowly started to die down. "What the hell happened to all that 'you ain't fully healed' go se?"

"Dai tian xing dong ren." River muttered angrily as she stomped over to where he stood and snatched her boot off the ground.

Jayne glared down at the girl standing in front of him, fist clenched tightly in an attempt to keep himself from strangling her, after all weren't likely Mal let him back on Serenity if'n he killed the doc's little sis. "I swear if'n you were anyone else…I'm this close to losin' your skinny ass soon as we get to…" It finally struck Jayne that he had no idea what the capital of Newhall was. "Whatever the hell the capital is." He finished lamely.

River shook her head slightly and moved away from him to once again sit on the edge of the bed. "Bristol." she said as she finished lacing up her second boot, choosing to ignore the angry way he was pulling his belt through the loops of his cargo pants.

Jayne froze the second the name left her mouth, belt held in a white-knuckled hold. "Bristol…" he muttered out.

"Jayne?" River asked, trying to cover the concern that had made its way into her voice. "What is it?"

He turned and stared at River with more anger that she had ever seen before. "Mook."

TBC


	8. Lost

Title: Lost

Series: Bad Blood

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: looks around confused yup, no piles of money for anyone to take me to court over.

Authors Note: Lady Cleo made me a pretty header for my lj which pretty much inspired all of my Rayne interaction in this chapter, plus (for some odd reason) a good chunk of that Kaylee/Simon part, so I am forever in her debt for that. (plus she writes one of the best Rayne stories ever)

I've decided to go with a shorter chapter this go round because who knows how long it would take for me to get the next part of this written and I figure something is better then more nothing. This is about 4,950 ish words…and I had to fight for pretty much 3,830 of them. I am very unhappy with the muse right now… glares at her

Thanks as always goes to mik109 for making it all sound better with her awesome beta skills, even though her net is down, she's like magic that way.

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It was hot, which was not all that uncommon on the rim granted, but it was also humid. The muggy air seeming to hang on every word, not to mention move, a person made, though the truly unbearable part came from how close everyone was around you.

River frowned at how the crowd seemed to part around Jayne and come crashing back into her as they slowly made their way through the crowded streets of Bristol. She huffed angrily as another heavy set man came crashing into her side particularly hard, and briefly mused to herself that it was a grand scheme plotted out by universe to make this whole ordeal as wholly excruciating as it could possibly be and took to again cursing every event that had led up to this point, including the birth of a certain mercenary.

She glared ahead of her only to see Jayne standing at a street corner looking around him in obvious confusion. She pushed through the throng of people and came up next to, the now frowning, man.

"Jayne."

"I've been here." He stated, cutting her off from anything she would have said otherwise. "I've been on this crap heel planet before, an' I've been in this crappy city." He stated looking down at her as he angrily pointed his finger at the ground.

"I told you our location days ago…" she scolded as she grabbed a hold of his arm to keep from being pushed over as another pedestrian rammed into her.

Jayne pulled a face and waved a hand at her in annoyance.

"And you had no recollection of the planet, let alone anyone on the planet." She continued ignoring the fact that he was paying absolutely no attention to her.

"I jus' gotta figure out which bar it was." He muttered to himself as River continued on.

"I find it hard to believe you would just remember the planet or, if you have been here before, have forgotten it so easily." River glared at Jayne as he spun around in place, taking care to read every sign in view while simultaneously ignoring her. "What are you doing?"

"I told you. I gotta figure out which bar it was."

River stared up at him and slowly tilted her head to the side, as though looking at him from another angle would help her to better understand his current thought process, which if she was being honest she wasn't entirely sure he had in his possession at all.

Jayne stopped his spinning and growled quietly when none of the bar signs seemed at all familiar. He glared one last time down the long street just to his left and then to his right, which is when he noticed the petite brunette currently attempting to glare him to death. "Don't give me that look."

"You have no idea where we are."

"That ain't true. I'm just a little turned about is all…" River arched her eyebrow at him and Jayne was, as loath as he was to admit it, a little intimidated by her. "I haven't been here for over fifteen years okay."

She blinked up at him and made the conscious effort to close her mouth and not gawk as Jayne straightened up in a subtle attempt to regain his sense of control over the whole situation. River suddenly found the toe of her boot extremely interesting and ducked her head down to get a better look at it, but it had nothing to do with the way he was staring at her.

Jayne shook his head slightly and glared up at the midday sun. "Look, nothin's familiar an' tryin' to find the bar I frequented over fifteen years ago is gonna be damn near impossible so we might as well just pick a place and head on in." He finished with a wave of his hand at the buildings around them, most of which happened to be bars. "Might be we get lucky an' I'll see someone I used to knw." He looked around the street once again and barely held back a groan. "Which is unlikely as all hell…We're probably gonna hafta go to more'n one bar, too."

The sound of the bustling city clanged and chattered around the pair as they stood at the street corner, one glaring all around him, the other... River huffed at the heat and turned to fully face Jayne, giving him a determined face. "Then we should get started."

----------------------------------------------------

"Is it safe?"

Simon's face scrunched up in confusion as the disembodied voice echoed through the large room. He chanced a tentative glace to his left, and then right. When he noticed no other people in the room, save Inara with whom he was currently speaking, he shrugged off the question as nothing more than the wind or an echo from another room.

"Was it hard to fix the engine on your own?"

Simon gave Inara a lopsided smile. "I didn't do it on my own. If I had been on my own, we would be dead by now."

Inara grinned back at the younger man. "That's not true."

"Oh, it's true…believe me it's true."

"Pst…is it safe?" The disembodied voice once again echoed out into the room.

"Inara," Simon began as he gave the large room they were sitting in another tentative look around. "You just heard that right?"

"Heard what?"

Simon gave one last cautious look around before leaning in closer to Inara. "That voice…" he asked in a harsh whisper that even she had to strain to hear.

"If you mean Mal's half-hearted attempts at being covert, then yes I did."

"You just ignored me?" Mal asked angrily as he strode into the room, all the while glaring at her.

"I attempted to, yes."

Mal glared down at the perpetually poised woman, who was making it a point to remain unaffected by his manly intimidation, or at least that's what he was telling himself. "No ignoring the Captain." He stated with an angry wag of his finger in her general direction.

"Really, Mal…"

"You haven't seen any of those trainees around here, right?" Mal asked as he looked over his shoulder at Simon, completely ignoring Inara's comparison of his bullying being on par with that of an untrained puppy.

Simon stared up at the man trying to figure out what the trainees had to do with being safe in the training house. "No."

"Good!" Mal fell back into the large seat next to Simon and leaned his head against the back of it. "Means I can get some peace." He muttered as he closed his eyes and sighed in contentment of finally being able to sit for a spell.

"They're following you too I take it?"

Mal's head lolled to the side and one eye cracked open so he could see Simon. "Yup, an' I plan to make myself scarce for the rest of our stay." He answered, again closing his eyes and stretching his legs out to lie on the top of the table in front of him.

Simon nodded and put his tea cup on its saucer, moving them both farther away from Mal's feet as he put them on the table. "It would be easier to avoid them if you knew where they were."

Mal shrugged casually. "Takes the excitement out of it."

"Yes, because being what we do for a living isn't exciting enough."

He chuckled lightly, keeping his head leaned back and eyes firmly closed. "I like a bit of variety in my excitement."

Simon smiled and shook his head. "I have enough excitement in my life; I'd rather know where they are." He stated as he stood up from his seat. "So I think I'll go find Kaylee, and, hopefully, she'll know where they all are."

Simon mumbled a goodbye to Inara and left the room, heading for the last place he had seen his bao bei.

"Of all the places in the 'Verse to get a following." Mal muttered off-handedly as he tried to catch up on some of that sleep thing he had been missin' as of late.

"Yes, you're cursed to have a gaggle of swooning girls following after you. How horrible."

Mal leaned his head forward and opened his eyes so he could stare at Inara on the seat across from him. "I sense a bit of hostility there now 'Nara. Wouldn't be jealous that everyone's taken a fancy to someone other than yourself now would ya?" He said as he flashed her one of his cocky grins.

Inara resisted the need to roll her eyes at him and instead took to just staring at him in obvious annoyance, which Mal took to mean that he had won the would-be fight they may or may not have just been having. Honestly, he wasn't exactly sure where he stood with Inara anymore, which wasn't all that much of a change of pace, but he had an idea about it. They still fought and bickered, she would nag and he would offend and then they would be angry for days on end without really knowing how the argument started, but that was them and that was how they did things on his boat and Mal wasn't lookin' to change that any time soon. They were a stubborn pair so it was always a mighty feat when one of them would win an argument, even if they weren't entirely sure if it was an argument they were really having in the first place.

Mal smirked and leaned his head back, eyes slowly sliding shut in peace.

Inara shook her head and stood up from her seat, half empty tea cup left forgotten on the table in front of her. She took a moment to stare down at the man lounging comfortably on the plush seat before she shook her head and began to leave the room.

"If you're not careful Mal, you're going to loose your Serenity." She stated simply from the door of the room.

Mal's head shot up and he stared over at her.

"After all, I _do_ know where the trainees are."

"That ain't even funny, 'Nara!"

----------------------------------------------------

The two slowly made their way through the crowd of people as they made their way to the nearest bar. The pair pushed past a small group of obviously intoxicated men as they entered the bar while a large neon sign above the door blinked away even in the midday sun. Jayne took care to steer River away from the group, since it was just a matter of time before one of them lost the last meal they had, and over to a safe distance and through the front doors.

River scrunched up her nose, just like she had done when she entered the bar on Harvest, and gave Jayne a pitifully sad pout over her shoulder as the sounds, not to mention smells, of the bar crashed over them.

"Don't give me that look. Ain't like I wanna be here." She made a small noise of protest, whether it was from the statement which, even he had to admit, held no truth what-so-ever or the fact that he was currently pushing her into the bar he wasn't sure.

Bristol was known as a layover point for more than its fair share of ships an' the city showed it. There were bars, Casinos, and brothels as far as the eye could see and all of the low lives that came with 'em. Jayne kept a firm grip on River's shoulders as he moved her through the cramped and crowded bar room.

Once they were in a spot where they weren't likely to be run over by drunks, Jayne reminded, "Ain't none of this trip's been fun, and that ain't likely to change any time soon. We just gotta suck it up and keep on until we can get Mal to get his worthless pigu here to pick us up."

Jayne looked around the fairly crowded room as the pair stopped next to the bar. "Look, I'm gonna check around, see if I recognize anyone, or if'n anyone recognizes me. You stay here an' out of trouble."

River stared up at Jayne as he pointed an accusatory finger at her. She rolled her eyes and slid into a chair at the bar. "Tong ni dang dao."

Jayne ignored the girl's muttering and started to make his way towards the other side of the bar.

River shook her head and turned towards the bar. She looked up and down the bar in an attempt to find the seat with the fewest aberrations of moral fiber near it. She slowly made her way down the bar until she reached the seat at the end.

She sat there for what felt like forever, though in reality it couldn't have been more then fifteen minutes, dutifully ignoring all of the long stares and bad pick up lines that were being thrown her way.

"You might wanna see ta your beau." A sweet sounding voice ringed out.

River looked up at the woman on the other side of the bar as she cleaned a recently cleaned mug. "Excuse me?"

"Your fella…the big guy ya come in here with." The barkeep said, nodding to the back of the room since her hands were both still busy with the mug. "He's over there with the girls…ain't a man alive I seen able to resist the lot of 'em, not without some persuasion on their gals parts."

River stared at the woman in front of her, confusion etched on every feature, as she attempted to decipher what it was that barkeep was trying to get at.

The barkeep rolled her eyes slightly and shook her head a bit before flashing the young woman a bright smile. "You gotta go stop your boyfriend 'fore he goes and does something stupid."

River slowly turned and looked towards the back of the bar, where the woman was pointing to. "Jayne?"

A brilliant smile broke free on the barkeep's face. "His name is Jayne? Humm…"

River nodded and looked back over her shoulder to where Jayne was standing. "It would be pointless to attempt to keep him from making a foolish choice, it's inevitable…and he's not my boyfriend." She finished with a bemused stare at the woman.

"Oh, well it's just that y'all look so cute together s'all." The woman shrugged innocently. "Oh well, I guess it's nothin' to worry on then. Can I get ya anything to drink?"

River sat firmly in her chair, looking over her shoulder at the table Jayne was currently hovering around and all of the girls that happened to be hovering around him. She stared straight at him for a long moment before a small frown found its way onto her face. She turned back to the woman behind the bar and gave her a weak grin before shaking her head no.

The barkeep gave the young girl a sad smile, one that reminded River of Kaylee, which just made her face fall that much more. "There anything I can do for ya, honey? A girl like you ain't supposed ta sit sad at a bar all night."

She gave the barkeep another small smile and shook her head. "The only thing I need is a working Cortex connection."

"Sorry, ain't but one of those here." She gave River a small grin. "And less'n ya know Mont ain't no way you're gonna get to it."

"Mont?"

"Yeah, Montgomery. He kinda owns this place…and by this place I mean the planet."

"The planet?"

"Yeah, that's why he's got the only workin' Cortex feed."

River quirked an eyebrow as she looked over to where Jayne stood schmoozing with the working girls in the corner and obviously enjoying himself entirely too much. "Where would I find him?"

----------------------------------------------------

The dark clouds rolled high in the sky as Simon made his way outside and down the winding path through the garden.

"I thought I would find you out here." He said as he came up behind Kaylee, who was standing in the middle of a small patch of grass completely surrounded by flowers of every color imaginable.

Kaylee smiled back at him. "Hey, whatchya doin' out here?"

"Escaping." He answered smiling back at her.

"Oh, the girls gettin' ta ya again?" She asked, holding back her laughter.

"Not yet, which is why I came out here…my subtle attempt to escape the inevitable I suppose." He said with a lopsided grin.

A few drops of rain slowly began to sprinkle in around the pair. Kaylee grinned and looked up at the sky. "I think it's gonna rain."

The few drops steadily grew in number as the two stood in the middle of the garden. "I think it is raining Kaylee."

A crack of thunder echoed in the sky above them as the rain began to pick up in intensity.

"Com'on." Kaylee shouted grabbing a hold of Simon's arm. She half-pulled, half-dragged, him towards a tall wooden gazebo that had been built next to a group of, now blooming, cherry blossom trees.

"Does it ever not rain here?" Simon asked as he ran a hand through his now soaking wet hair.

Kaylee giggled and sat down one of the wooden benches that had been built into the middle of the gazebo. "Sure it does, just not often. River told me it was the dry season here."

"She would know…" He mumbled staring out at the heavy downpour of rain around them, a sad smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Oh, Simon."

"I should never have let her go on that job with them."

"You didn't exactly have a choice Simon, what with the Cap'n orderin' her to go an all…"

"No, I should have tried harder…I should have….I should have done something. She shouldn't be out there like this."

Kaylee shook her head and sighed. "Simon, she ain't the fourteen year old girl your folks sent away, an' she ain't that broken girl that popped outta that cryo box on Serenity two years ago." Kaylee said slightly vexed that Simon still treated River like she weren't able to handle nothin' when she had more'n proved she could take care of herself. "She don't need ya babyin' her an' she don't need no fixin'."

"I'm not trying to fix her Kaylee, and I know she will never be the little girl I grew up with again. I know that…It's just that…" Simon sighed as he ran his hand through his hair again, only this time it wasn't because of the rain. "I've spent so much time trying to help her be herself again. Miranda did something I could never do for her. She doesn't need me giving her injection after injection anymore. She doesn't need me to tell her that everything will be alright anymore because it is. But that doesn't mean I can just ignore the feeling that I should be doing something to help her."

"Oh, Simon, we are helpin' her ya know. It's jus' that we can't do all that much when we don't know where they are an' all."

Simon nodded despondently and walked over to the edge of the gazebo. "I know that. I really do." He looked over his shoulder at Kaylee. "It's just that…what if the reason we can't find her is because she's hurt, or worse that the Alliance has her again?"

"Don't you think like that, Simon. It's different now." Kaylee urged as she got up from the seat. "She's got a family now and they ain't about to let somethin' happen to her. An' whether you care to admit it or not Jayne's a part'a that family." She moved over to stand next to him, placing a gentle hand on his back. "Jayne'll keep 'er safe." She said softly, doing her best to comfort and reassure him.

"Right." He nodded, staring out at the garden as the rain poured down around them. "…Jayne."

"Oh, com'on, he ain't that bad."

"Not that bad?" Simon asked incredulously as he turned to stare at Kaylee with what she hoped was mock horror, even though she knew it was most likely just utter horror. "He's only attempted to get River and me kicked off of the ship ever since we got there."

"That ain't fair, he's changed since then." She chided, moving her hands to rest on her hips. This conversation was going bad just about as quick as all of the ones they had had before Miranda.

"Changed? Kaylee to change a person has to care…and have a brain."

"If that's how you're gonna be then fine, you can sit out here alone." She announced, moving to storm out from under the cover of the gazebo.

"Kaylee, it is pouring, you can't…"

"People've walked in the rain before, Simon. Ain't like it's gonna kill me." She said as she moved toward the steps of the gazebo.

"Kaylee…"

"Why do you hate him so much, Simon?" She snapped, spinning back around to glare at him. "Why can't ya just accept him for who he is insteada always cuttin' him down? What's so bad about him, Simon?" She asked angrily, still standing on the steps of the gazebo.

"Kaylee…"

"No, Simon! I wanna know." She demanded angrily. "I want ya to tell me why he's so bad, why ya can't trust that he's changed." She asked sadly, finally moving away from the steps leading out into the rain.

"Because he can't change, Kaylee," Simon explained, almost at the point of shouting. "People and places and things change but not him, because unlike people and places and things nothing touches him. He never lets anyone near him Kaylee."

"Like you do."

"I had a reason…"

"An' he don't?" She asked quickly, cutting him off before he could finish his thought. "He's been out here a long time Simon, a lot can happen to a man the amount'a time Jayne's been out here."

Simon grinned sarcastically. "But he's still the same Jayne."

"He ain't always been like this, Simon." Kaylee explained with a shake of her head.

"Exactly!" Simon shouted pointing a finger at Kaylee. "He is everything I'm not, Kaylee. He's big and uncivilized, he uses brute strength to get everything in life, he never thinks, he never feels….He kills people, Kaylee, that's what he does." Simon explained slowly a look of perplexed revulsion. "He is everything I never want to be. He stands for everything I don't want to stand for. Being out there changes people. Doing…what we do, it changes people."

"What are you tryin' to say, Simon?" Kaylee asked nervously.

"This isn't the kind of life I want to lead, Kaylee. I don't want my sister going out and committing crime with wanted fugitives on a daily basis. I don't want my fiancée sweet talking the scum of the 'Verse to keep the ship in working order. I don't want to be patching up bullet holes in the captain of an old ship on the edge of the universe. I don't want to run from planet to planet breaking the law to make money. I don't want to be this; I don't want her to be this and I don't want you to be this. But the problem of the matter is that I'm starting to care less and less about all of that. The problem isn't that the crew was shot at, or that the ship broke down. It's that when it happens, it's business as usual." Simon shook his head and moved back to the edge of the gazebo, leaning heavily on the railing that surrounded the sides of the small wooden building. "She could die out there, Kaylee… You could die out there. I'm terrified that one of these times when the job goes south that'll be it. You two are all I have, Kaylee…I can't…I'm not strong enough to loose you, either of you."

"Simon…"

"Wash died Kaylee…Shepard Book died." He said unsympathetically. "They're dead and the Captain, and Zoe and Jayne kill. My entire life has been turned on its head. I'm not the man I wanted to be." He said turning back to stare out at the garden. "Nothing is the way I wanted it to be." He muttered quietly to himself.

"You're scared."

Simon's head shot up and he spun around to stare at Kaylee. "What?"

"Jayne's been out in the black longer'n any of us an' you're scared that the longer we stay out here…that _you_ stay out here," she corrected with a point in his direction. "The more you'll be like him." She stated firmly before she began to shake her head sadly. "An' it ain't so, Simon. Jayne ain't had a family since he left home, not 'til he got on Serenity. He was livin' job to job, he didn't have friends… He didn't have no one that cared 'bout him."

"You've got no idea how good you got it joinin' Serenity insteada some other crew. You ain't gotta worry 'bout ever havin' to live like that. You ain't gonna be like him 'cause ya got us… Ya got me." She said sadly, trying desperately to make him understand. "The longer we stay out here, an' on Serenity, the more he'll be like us 'cause he's finally around people that care." Kaylee shook her head sadly and gave Simon a long hurt look. "We's family now. Ya best start actin' like one." She said before she turned and stormed off through the rain, leaving Simon alone with his thoughts in the middle of the storm.

----------------------------------------------------

Jayne leaned on the bar next to River, bottle of beer in one hand. "Learned anythin'?"

"The harvest in Salt Gap this year went poorly. Maybelle and Roy only ever get along when they are having sex. Drunks should not be allowed to acquire tattoo's. People should think twice before picking a Latin name for their ship because Phthirus Pubis is a very poor choice. A large group of men that came in earlier firmly believe that we've all lived lives almost exactly, if not frighteningly similar, to the ones we are living now and that we've met everyone we associate ourselves with before. And two adults, no matter how consenting, should refrain from taking naps together because it is considered abnormal by others." River answered in a monotone voice as she continued to stare at the bar top.

"What?" Jayne asked confused, none of that made any sense. What did takin' naps and getting' drunk have to do with knowin' everyone from a past life? What the hell was that thing about Latin, and who the hell was Maybelle and Roy, an' what the hell did they have to do with gettin' a wave to Mal?

"Three men of various sobrieties have attempted to entice me back to their rooms, Jayne…three!" River said angrily, now glaring at the bar top instead of staring at it. "And one very odd woman with an accent, but I think it was the alcohol she had consumed rather than her actual sexual preference."

"A woman?" Jayne asked in amazement. "A woman…" he muttered out again with a devious smirk and a nod of his head.

River glared at him as he took a drink from his beer and waggled his eyebrows at her. "You're over there flirting with whores while I'm stuck at the bar fending off drunks that want to…cop a feel!" She shouted furiously.

He nearly choked on his beer, an' as loath as he was to admit it, it weren't cause of her yellin' rather it were the idea of some drunk guy gettin' fresh with her.

After a deep gulp, Jayne put his beer on the table and glared down at River, deciding that it was better to be incensed over the fact that she thought he was flirtin' away with some whores in the back rather'n think on all of these "drunks" she had been dealin' with all night.

"Hey!" Jayne shouted, pointing an angry finger at the small girl seated in front of him. "I weren't flirtin' I was looking for information!"

He refused to waver under the intense glare that River was sending him; part of him secretly envied the intensity she had mustered while the other part wanted nothing more than to just look away before her brain killed him. "'Sides,it ain't like you was doin' much to help our cause."

Both of River's eyebrows shot up at that, and her mouth quirked over to the side. "The only working Cortex station is owned by the same man that owns this planet." She explained, making sure to do so slowly with very small words so he could not misunderstand her.

Unwilling to appear shocked by this completely new and fully helpful information, Jayne scrunched up his face as he raised his beer back up to his mouth. "Really?" He asked casually, choosing to ignore her patronizing tone. She'd had a bad night so he was willin' to let her slide a bit.

"Montgomery."

Jayne's fist tightened around the glass bottle he was holding. "Montgomery? As in Montgomery Klein?" He asked through clenched teeth as he glared at the bar top.

"Yes."

The glass shattered into pieces as Jayne tightened his hold of the glass bottle even further. "Na er de yi gou."

"Jayne?"

"Montgomery Osric Orrin Klein." He growled out as he slowly released his death grip of the shards of glass in his hand. "…Mook."

River frowned and shook her head slowly. "How is it that you always know these people?"

TBC…

That is if it cooperates with me


	9. The Good Ole Days

Title: Old Friends, Fresh Wounds (The Good Ole Days)

Series: Bad Blood

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: looks around confused yup, no piles of money for anyone to take me to court over.

Authors Note: Holy crap! This thing is huge. It's my longest chapter, and I think it's the longest I've gone between chapters as well. I thought about finding a place in the middle so I could cut it in half and just make it two chapters, but it didn't feel right doing that, so instead you get a monster chapter. It's weighing in at about 12,626, that's a lot of words. So many words I ended up having to cut it in half just to post it (thankfully I had a good scene break about 6,560 into it so the chapter is pretty much half and half on two posts)

I'll have a different authors note on the next chapter, I have a short story to share about a scene in this part but I don't want to ruin it.

I'd also like to thank mik109, nutmeg610, Lady Cleo, earthwhatwere (on LJ), and bugchicklv for letting me reference their stories in the last chapter (even though I totally didn't ask). Thanks guys :)

mik109 again totally saved my life by being my beta. She is a god.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And this one needs your initial here…and here….and on the last page about half way down." A tall and very thin man said as he pointed to the dotted lines on each page.

"Okay…wait." The man seated in the chair held up both of his hands, one holding his pen to keep from signing anything. "What am I signing?" He asked looking at the younger man next to him.

"Didn't you read it?"

"In the two seconds since you handed it to me? No, I hadn't quite got around to it." He shot back sarcastically.

"You've had this all week." The younger man stated, tapping his finger on the pages that were still spread out on the desk.

"I…what?"

"It's been on your desk all week."

The older man nodded as he stood up and grabbed a hold of a leather bound folder that lay on the desk in front of him. "Goodnight."

"What?" The younger man stared after him as he began to make his way down the hall. He grabbed the papers off of the desk as quickly as he could and began chasing after. "You…you can't leave yet." The younger man squawked as he followed closely behind, papers clutched tightly in his hands.

The older man strode down the hall, ignoring the younger man's wailing. "Goodnight, Richard." He shot over his shoulder with a winning smile as he pushed through the large double doors and out onto the crowded city street.

Richard spun back around and began marching back towards the office they had just come from, all the while muttering about how the world was going to the dogs thanks to the entirely too lax rule.

Richard pinched the bridge of his nose as he made his way back into the large office he had just left. He slapped the papers he had been clutching onto the desk top and slumped back into the large leather chair his boss had just vacated.

"Richard."

The younger man darted out of the chair at the sound of the voice. "You nearly scared me to death."

"Where is he?"

Richard rolled his eyes and waved a dismissive hand at the door to the office. "He left Jesse, probably going home."

"What?" The huge man asked angrily as he hurried over to the window hoping he would still be able to see the man in question. "You're supposed to get me before he leaves."

Richard glared up at Jesse, and not for the first time since they had begun working together. "He just left…and don't even think about telling me I should have stopped him, Jesse. You know how he is."

Jesse hit his fist against the windows sill lightly, still glaring out at the street where there was no sign of their boss. "Yeah, I know how he is."

While the two in the office were arguing, the man in question was currently more than halfway home. As he walked along, he began to really think about his life; something that was becoming frighteningly more common for him to be doing.

He hadn't started as much, born on a crappy planet halfway out in the 'Verse he found himself drawn to the black. The second he could jump aboard a ship he did it, and he never once looked back.

He had worked his pi gu off in the years that followed, moving from one ship to another always searching for the bigger and better deal until one day he had found it. He had himself a ship, a good enough crew, and a decent enough amount of space to do business in.

He shook his head as he pushed open his front door. Those were the days he looked back on fondly; those were the days he still wished for when he had the freedom to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, when he could just fly for days on end and go nowhere and everywhere all at once.

Instead he was here, living in a large house at the edge of Bristol on an overpopulated rock halfway out in the 'Verse. Somehow, he felt, he had gone backwards. He left his dismal life of doing bookwork for days on end to end up…doing bookwork for days on end. The 'Verse really was a funny ol' place.

Perhaps he was just getting sentimental as the days went by, but the longer he spent behind that desk, the more he wanted some of the adventure of his old life back. As he threw the leather-bound folder he had brought home with him onto the nearest table, he heard the faint sound of a door creaking open behind him.

"Hey, Mook."

Mook froze as soon as the sound of the other man's voice rumbled across the room. He took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders before turning to look over his shoulder. "You…"

The 'Verse really was a funny ol' place.

---------------------------

Zoe stood at the top of the ramp leading out of Serenity staring out at all the expanses of nothing laid out behind them. The dry wind kicked up dirt around the bottom of the ramp, and the sun hung high in the sky making the day unbearably hot.

"Ah, Zoe. Enjoying the spectacular view of… nothingness I see."

She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as the voice cut through the silence of the cargo bay. "Captain, let you out?"

"Let is such a…relative term." He answered with a nonchalant shake of his head.

Zoe made sure to keep her smile from showing, and cringing at the god awful Hawaiian shirt he was wearing over his jumpsuit, when she turned to watch their slightly eccentric pilot make his way towards her.

"Skipping out on the job?" She asked coolly giving him her best stare down, just like she had done the first time they met.

"But only for the very best of reasons." He said, scrunching up his face in the perfect mask of confusion and hurt, which is something she had learned about him since he had gotten the job as pilot. The man could make that face of his do anything. It was a wonder she didn't smile at him more often. "I, my dear second-in-command, am out in search of a bathtub."

"You're searching for a bathtub?"

"That I am."

She raised a single eye brow at that. "And why are you so determined to find a bathtub?"

"Okay, you've caught me. I can admit when I've been caught. I have ulterior motives. Zoe…I don't know how to tell you this, so I'm just going to come right out and say it." He explained seriously as he took her shoulders in his hands, which was cause for concern because he was never this serious.

"You smell." He said simply, looking away from her face and staring at the floor. "It's less than becoming." He looked back up into her face as he continued. "Sure, Mal doesn't mind, but then again our Captain isn't known for being the keenest on things of a personal nature, least of all hygiene…Do you know how long it's been since he last washed that shirt he's wearing today?" Wash asked as Zoe shook her head and began walking away from him.

"C'mon, Zoe, be a rebel! Sneak away and take a bath."

Zoe turned on her heel to glare back at Wash, who had taken up her spot at the top of Serenity's ramp. "You tryin' to get me to leave my post, pilot?"

"Umm..yes?"

"Not followin' the Captain's orders is a form of mutiny." She said seriously as she began to walk slowly back towards Wash.

"You don't always do what the Captain orders." Wash said with a small shrug. "…or maybe you do." He amended as he saw Zoe raise her eyebrow again. "Doesn't matter either way because our dear fearless Captain ordered you to stow the cargo, and as I see it you've done that. Mission completed." He said with a goofy smile before he stood at attention and gave her a sloppy salute. "You are now free to dabble, Miss Alleyne, in the finer points of personal hygiene."

"So, you're searchin' for this tub so I can take a bath? What's in it for you?"

"Me? Oh, you know… the knowledge of a job well done and all that."

"Very noble of you." She said with a nod, the hints of a smile touching the corners of her mouth.

Wash shrugged casually. "Well, I try."

"I don't know about a bathtub, but I heard about some natural springs just on the other side of town."

Wash's eyebrows shot up at the sound of that. "Did you now?" He asked as indifferently as he could muster while being completely thrilled at the thought of natural springs, all things Zoe, and the possible mixing of the two.

"They're supposed to be amazing."

"I like amazing."

"Thought this was to get me to bathe?" She asked as that eyebrow went up again; she seemed to do that a lot around him.

"Oh, it is, but how can I be sure you actually go and make with the bathing unless I too am there?" he asked as innocently as he could, giving her a few sidelong glances.

Zoe turned so she could stand in front of him. "Are you implying something could be going on between us?" She asked with mock seriousness.

"Me? I wouldn't dream of it….or actually no, I would dream of it. Oh, how I would dream of it…" He said as he stared up at the sky dreamily.

Zoe couldn't help but smile at the daydreaming pilot. "Wash?" She asked, snapping him out of his dreamlike stare at nothing just over her shoulder. "You wanna take a bath?"

"I thought you would never ask."

A flash of lightning ripped across the sky snapping Zoe out of her daze. She looked back out the large window of the training house at the small pool as the rain crashed down into it, causing the once calm surface to ripple uncontrollably.

Zoe took a deep breath and turned away from the window. She wrapped her arms around herself, to help cut down the cold she felt from the draft in the hallways, at least that's what she would tell anyone that bothered to ask.

As she turned the corner to make her way back towards her room she nearly collided with a completely soaked mechanic.

"Zoe. Sorry, didn't see ya there."

Zoe raised an eyebrow at the younger woman. "There a reason you're soaked?"

"Simon." Kaylee grumbled out angrily, glaring at the wall to her side.

"Simon?" Zoe's asked as her other eyebrow rose.

Kaylee sighed and turned towards Zoe. "He's bein' a ning luo pang tun bu." She spat out angrily as Zoe nodded slowly. Kaylee shook her head and slumped down on the nearest seat. "I jus' don't know why he's gotta go an' be like that all the time. Ya know he judges everyone around him but he never takes the time to look in the mirror an' see he's jus' the same as any of us. Why he think's he's still gotta go an' look down on the way we live is…"

"Kaylee!" Zoe cut her off before she could continue her angry tirade. Kaylee looked up at the still stoic woman standing over her, eyes wet from what Zoe could only hope was the rain and not tears, she was worse with tears than anything else not that she would ever willingly admit so. "You've got to realize that the way we grew up is completely different from the way Simon and River grew up. It'll take him time to get used to everything."

"It didn't take River this long to get used to everything."

Zoe shook her head and took a seat next to the sullen mechanic. "Kaylee, look at where she lived before gettin' on the ship. Anything is better than that."

Kaylee shook her head sadly and tried desperately to keep from pouting over her hearts lament, especially to Zoe of all people. She knew the last thing the older woman oughtta be hearin' was about relationship problems given all she'd been through. "I jus' want Simon ta be happy, an' it don't seem like he'll ever be that way on Serenity…or with me." She finished pitifully, staring at the floor.

Zoe shook her head again and took Kaylee's head between her hands, turning it so she could look the girl in the eyes. "Kaylee, Simon loves you." She said in her usual calm and collected voice, emphasizing her point with a gentle shake of the girl's head. "He's just a practical and cautious man. Give him time."

Kaylee snorted at that. "Time… He's always needin' time. Time ta get settled in, time ta fix River, time ta make sure River was really fixed… Time ta not notice me or how good he's got it."

Zoe let go of Kaylee and leaned back against the wall, glancing over to her side to stare out the window she had just been planted in front of. "Ya never know how good ya got it till it ain't there anymore."

Kaylee blinked and turned to stare at the woman next to her. It really was all kinds of wrong to be havin' a conversation like this with Zoe. Ain't been more'n a few months since…well, everything. Zoe'd spent the first two or so months more stoic and quiet than ever before, which was sayin' somethin'. Cap'n had kept tellin' everyone to mind their own business an' let her grieve her own way. Kaylee'd always figured if anyone knew how Zoe grieved it'd be the Cap'n.

Zoe shook her head and turned back to Kaylee. "Simon's a little slow on the uptake, Kaylee. It's just going to take him long'r then most to realize what's right in front of him."

"Didn't take Wash this long." She mumbled out, immediately regretting it.

Kaylee'd always had a lotta respect for Zoe. To be able ta survive somethin' as awful as the war was bound to change folk an' to see Zoe everyday with Wash, ta see how happy and carefree she could be, kinda gave her hope for the future, and the Cap'n's future too. But after everythin', to see Zoe bounce back from somethin' that Kaylee just knew woulda done her in, weren't a word to describe how much Kaylee respected her after all'a that. An' here she was, rubbin' it in her face.

Weren't any way Kaylee could make this worse, she'd just hafta keep her trap shut an' hope for the planet to go ahead and swallow her up.

Zoe grinned slightly at the mention of Wash. He could always make her smile; it was nice to know he could still do it even when he was gone. "My man was smarter'n most in that area. He wasn't the one that needed figuring out."

Kaylee chanced a glance over to Zoe, hopin' against hope that she weren't angry or sad or nothin'. When she saw the small smile, she brightened slightly. "He told me you wouldn't give 'im the time of day till he shaved."

Zoe's head snapped to her side to give Kaylee a hard stare. "You didn't see him with that thing on his face…." She said stoically. "'Sides I didn't take half as long as some, look at Mal."

Kaylee's grin fell immediately. "Ya got a point."

------------------------------

Mook stared down the barrel of a rather large gun. "How'd you get in?"

Jayne smirked at the other man. "I knocked on the front door. I just asked real nice, made sure to mention we was old friends, an' they just let me come right in."

"What?"

"Snuck in through the back." Jayne said angrily as he moved forward, gun lowering slightly so it could be aimed at Mook's chest. "Ya might want to find yourself a new security system."

"That's sound advice." Mook nodded slowly. He took a deep breath then huffed out a short chuckle to himself at the odd turn his life had very recently taken. "I figured I'd see you again some day."

Jayne smirked again at the calm tone Mook had taken. "Yeah an' I kinda figured I'da done killed ya by now my own self."

Mook shifted in place, not out of fear, after all he had had guns pointed at him most of his life and after a time it begins to loose its edge. No, he didn't shift out of fear but rather more out of a lack of options. He accepted the fact, long ago, that he would one day meet his old friend again, and not on the friendliest of terms either.

In fact, he pictured this wonderful little reunion would turn out exactly as it was. Well, not exactly like this, he never pictured it would be in the middle of his own home, but it was always at the end of a gun. "I always figured I'd see you again. I just never pictured it would be here."

"Well, I'm full of surprises." Jayne smirked at the smaller man; gun aimed unwavering at his chest.

River leaned around the rather hulkish frame of the angry Mercenary and stared at the man held at gun point. Her brow furrowed for a moment as she stared at him her gaze as unwavering as Jayne's gun.

Mook's eyes flickered from Jayne to River as she peered out from behind him. Mook's eyebrows raised some at the sight of the small girl. "Ain't that the truth." He muttered quietly, attention completely deviated from Jayne.

Jayne couldn't help but glare at Mook as he stared at River. With a deep growl, Jayne moved to stand in front of River once again. "Look, I'm gonna say this once, an' just once. So you better listen, dong ma?"

Mook's eyes shot back to Jayne as the growl in his voice sounded out. "Do I have a choice?" He asked sarcastically, giving Jayne a smirk for all of his intimidating.

"Not unless ya don't mind gettin' dead."

"Fair enough."

Jayne took a large step forward, resting the end of his gun in the middle of Mook's chest. "I ought to kill you Mook."

"Oh c'mon, you're kidding me." Mook sighed staring at Jayne in utter disbelief.

"You tried to kill me Mook."

"No, I didn't."

"The hell you didn't!"

River rolled her eyes at the pair and turned to sit on the large sofa just to the side of her. After all of the growling Jayne had done since he discovered where they were, she was quiet interested in their history. Besides the chance to see Jayne flustered and upset at someone other than Simon, the Captain, or herself was far too good to pass up.

"It's not my fault Brooks was the only guy out here with any power," Mook's finger shot up to silence Jayne's angry retort. "And it sure as hell wasn't my fault he hated you." He finished angrily. With a deep sigh and a shake of his head, Mook looked back up at Jayne's face. "If you wanted to make sure you kept your job, you wouldn'tve gone and had sex with his daughter."

Jayne rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Weren't like that wasn't consensual." He said offhandedly.

"She was 17 Jayne." Mook stared at the other man with a look that could only be described as bewilderment. "That isn't even legal on some planets."

"It was legal on that one!" Jayne shouted making sure to push the barrel of the gun into Mook's chest painfully.

"Oh, well, I guess that makes it okay then." Mook shouted back as he leaned away from the gun the best he could without stepping back. It might have been a macho guy thing but he refused to the first one to move.

"Yeah, it does." Jayne shot back, making sure to emphasize his point by cocking his gun. "'Sides that don't explain why you did what you did."

"Me? Ya wanna talk about me now?" Mook asked in a mix of frenzied anger and utter confusion. "He threatened to shoot me because of that stunt. Only way I kept the job with him, an' my head, was doing what I did."

"So you take me out back an' shoot me, is that it?" He spat out venomously.

Mook shook his head as the angry edge began to fade from his voice. "I didn't shoot you."

Jayne narrowed his eyes and glared at Mook with the same intensity that he had used in the bar earlier. "You tried!" he growled out.

"No, I didn't. If I'da tried to shoot you, you would have been shot." He explained calmly. "Yeah, sure, I aimed in your general direction…but not at you."

"So then ya just leave me in the middle of nowhere to rot?"

Mook shook his head solemnly, anger completely gone now. "What was I suppose to do. Jayne? You screwed up not me."

"Look!" Jayne yelled angrily, causing Mook to finally shut his trap an' just listen, like he oughta've been doin' this whole time. "That weren't the way the conversation was supposed to go." Jayne continued with just as much menace, though a bit quieter.

"Point of the matter is the only reason I'm here an' you ain't dead is 'cause on this whole ass backwards planet this is the only place that's got a workin' Cortex connection," he stated angrily, gun unmoving. "An' it jus' so happens that I need one a mite more then I need ya dead. Got it?"

Mook stared at Jayne for a long moment before slowly nodding. "Yeah, I got it."

Jayne continued to glare at Mook as he took a small step back. "Good, now where is it?"

River quirked an eyebrow as she watched the two. It wasn't that it was unusual for Jayne to act childish or to overreact to a situation, actually it was a common occurrence when it came to the brutish man. What was unusual was the tension and intensity the whole conversation had held. She had a feeling that the real problem between the two wasn't really because of a hurt ego and sleeping with an almost underage girl.

River quirked her head to the side and bit her bottom lip as she let her eyes wonder around the room and eventually over to a side room, where she presumed the Cortex terminal was. She looked back at the two, who were still attempting to glare one another to death. River rolled her eyes and gracefully stood from her spot on the sofa and moved towards the room.

Jayne noted the sudden movement from the corner of his eye and gestured with his head that Mook should start followin' her. Weren't no way in hell he was about to give Mook even a chance at gettin' him any more off task then he'd already gone and done.

"Smart girl."

"She is."

Mook nodded as he slowly made his way across the large room. "Young, too." He noted as he stared at the tiny girl just in front of him. "But then you always like them young."

Jayne growled at the comment and made sure to jab his gun into Mook's back particularly hard when she wanted him to stop movin'. "Ain't like that."

"Sure, it's not." Mook muttered as he turned to stare at Jayne again. "Wasn't like that with Megan either, was it?"

"She came on to me." Jayne shot back angrily, ignoring River's annoyed stare from just behind Mook. "And she more than knew what she was doing."

Mook shrugged and shook his head. "Hey, when you're right, you're right. That girl had her eye on you the whole time we were doin' business with her pop."

A puzzled look crossed Jayne's face suddenly, as if he had just figured out something terribly important. "How'd he find out about Megan anyhow Mook?"

"He knows about everything Jayne… He probably knows that you're here right now and is secretly plotting a way to kill you all over again as we speak."

"He thinks I'm dead?" Jayne's face scrunched up in confusion once again.

Mook blinked once before giving Jayne his best "are you kidding me" face. "He did…"

"How d'ya know he thought I was dead?" Jayne asked seriously as Mook continued to stare at him as though he'd gone and sprouted another head or some such.

"'Cause that's what I told him." Mook explained slowly, just in case Jayne had been hit one too many times since they'd gone and parted ways. "Jayne that man has a fierce sense of what's right an' wrong when it comes to his dear sweet Lil' Meg."

"First off, she hated bein' called that." Jayne growled out pointing an angry finger at Mook. "An' second, Brooks was a zhu tou zi de yi mian hou."

"No argument from me, but that doesn't change the fact that he'll just as soon kill you as look at you."

Jayne smirked and only just resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yeah, well, I'm just terrified of that happenin'."

Mook gave Jayne a serious look as he shook his head just slightly. "A smart man would be, but then again you've never been known for your smarts." He said with a shrug. "Hell knowing you, ya probably just went around town without a care in the world before makin' your way here."

Jayne gave him a small shrug and an unimpressed shake of his head.

"You are the luckiest gorram idiot I've ever known, Jayne!" Mook shouted, glaring at Jayne for all he was worth. Jayne narrowed his eyes angrily, though Mook took no notice of it and threw his hands up in the air and stomped over to a table nearby. "How the hell you made it this far being a wanted man and all is just…"

"I'm wanted?" Jayne said, cutting Mook off. He took a moment to stare at Mook, as though he was sizing him up for somethin' unseemly, face scrunched up in thought. "How much am I wanted for?" He asked, this time unable to ignore the glare River was shooting him over Mook's shoulder. "What?"

Mook shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Not just you...her too." He said with a nod of his head towards River.

"Her?" He glared down at River, who had come to stand next to him as Mook had moved over to the table. "You're still wanted? Thought the Alliance dropped the charges..."

"Not the Alliance." Mook said, cutting off Jayne, as he picked up a wanted sign from the table and scanned it for the name of the people that wanted to collect the pair. "Says an anonymous party wants..."

Jayne cut Mook off by ripping the wanted sign out of his hands. Jayne's eyes scanned the paper in his hands, a low growl following the last line he read. "You're still ruttin' wanted!" His eyes snapped up to glare at River again.

River quirked an eyebrow at the fuming man next to her. "What? I didn't know."

Jayne's glare softened as he continued to stare at River. "You're worth more'n me." He muttered unhappily. River's other eyebrow rose in thought and nodded slightly, before she gave Jayne a simple "yes and" type of face. "Don't seem right... I'm bigger'n you." He said just a little sadder than he had any right to be given the current conversation. River shook her head and gave him a half smile, really a smirk if it could be called anything.

Mook sighed at the two and shook his head. "Yeah well, you're both wanted... Worth quite a pretty penny, especially if someone collected on both. So I recommend you two stay out of trouble." He said before shooting Jayne a look. "Think you can handle that?"

Jayne sneered at Mook. "Where's the gorram Cortex connection?" He barked out, handing the wanted poster over to River.

Mook pointed towards the back of the room, just behind Jayne. "Over there…." He said. "Help yourself." He added with fake cheer.

"Right." Jayne said with an angry smirk before he handed River his gun. He turned to the small girl as her hands brushed against his. "Watch him." He said seriously, refusing to let go of the gun before she nodded her understanding.

Mook snorted and shook his head in disbelief. "Where am I gonna go? It's my house."

River kept the gun aimed at Mook even though her eyes were glued to Jayne's retreating form.

Mook looked between the two slightly confused. "So," he started, moving to stand next to River.

River lifted the gun higher, aiming it at Mook's head, stopping him in his tracks. "I can kill you with my eyes closed." She said simply, finally turning back towards him.

Mook rose his hands up in surrender. "Gottchya."

Jayne sat down at Cortex panel angrily, silently hoping River could find a reason to deck Mook. He punched a few keys and was prompted for a password.

"Mook, I need the password." Jayne growled out as he turned to glare back at his old buddy. Jayne froze in spot when he noticed Mook flashing River his very best grin. The gorram bastard was flirtin' with his…crazy person. That's it, he really was gonna shoot Mook.

"Mook! The gorram things locked." Jayne shouted out, finally getting Mook's attention.

"Oh, right. Password. I guess I'll be changing it after today anyhow." Mook muttered to himself. "Password's Lydia." He looked back over at River and gave her another smile. "It's my mom's name." He explained. "Unlike some people, I don't name things that I use to kill people after the important people in my life." He said turning to stare at Jayne.

Jayne glared all he was worth towards Mook. He always made fun of the idea of namin' a gun or a knife after somethin', or someone, important. Don't matter what he thought though, never kept Jayne from namin' his things whatever the good gorram he wanted. In a job like his, you had to trust your life to somethin' and if'n you wanted it to work right you had to treat it with respect. Ya can't just go an' slap jus' any name on a gun, weren't dignified in the least.

Mook shook his head and turned back to River. "How'dya know the lunkhead anyhow?" He asked before he raised his hand to keep her from answering. "Wait, let me guess. You work together right?"

River nodded, moving the gun so it was no longer pointed at Mook. "Co-workers."

Mook grinned to himself. "He's your muscle. An' that would make you what? The brains of the operation?"

River gave him a smile. "Pilot, though the odds of successfully completing a job would most likely rise if I were the brains."

"And you'd get more jobs. Well, that's not necessarily true." He said with a small shake of his head. "I know I'd rather deal with an attractive woman than a man any day, but you know not everyone can handle a strong woman." He flashed her another brilliant smile.

River couldn't help the small, intrigued smile that crept onto her face. He was certainly an interesting man if nothing else.

Mook shook his head and kept right on smiling. "So, a pilot huh? What do you fly?"

"Midbulk transport," she said almost dreamily, catching herself before she listed off the classcode and engine specifications. "A Firefly."

Mook nodded, giving River a knowing smile. "You must be good. You don't see many pilots that talk about their ships like that unless they own them. You must really love her."

River shrugged. "It's the only place I've ever belonged. Everything makes sense there." She answered as the smile found its way back to her face. "It's all numbers and equations, like math. It's constant, soothing." She explained, happy to go on and on about something she loved without being cut off or ignored, like she would be had it been Jayne she was talking to and not Mook.

"No matter how complicated the equation there will always be a right answer and it will never be different, regardless of how many times it is done, and when you find the answer… It's like everything else falls away. It just makes sense." She finished with another dreamy smile.

Mook nodded slowly. "You're a very interesting woman, River Tam."

She was giving Mook one of those "you're an idiot but in a cute way" kind of looks. Jayne knew them well enough, after all he had seen her give Wash them more'n once, her brother and Mal too, but there weren't no reason to be givin' _him_ those looks.

Not him, not Mook. The bastard had tried to kill him. She should be givin' him the cold shoulder not smiling back at him and makin' with the cozitudes of small talk.

Jayne turned back to the screen in front of him with an angry scowl, glaring as the Cortex finally flashed on. "'Bout ruttin' time." He growled under his breath as he began to angrily punch in the code to wave Serenity.

River's eyes flickered over to Jayne as she felt the tension in the room grow even more. "He's angry." She commented offhandedly.

When it came to Jayne one never needed to state his current mood, anyone could tell my simply looking at him. But River had learned that saying things out loud made them more true and often times gave them a validity that couldn't be attained otherwise, though she assumed it was most likely something that pertained only to her.

She had spent so much time feeling and knowing things that weren't her own that stating the obvious had been the only way she could keep track of herself, and even then she still got lost. Things were better now though, she still felt and knew things the others didn't but most often the only person in her head now was her. Something the Captain had been mixed about, which made Simon sputter in annoyance.

"_She can't hear people's thoughts anymore?" _

_River smiled at the Captain. "Not can't, choose not to." She explained with a soft grin. _

_Mal nodded slowly. "Okay." He said hesitantly as he tried to keep from sighing too loudly._

"_Okay?" Simon asked. "It's better than okay, it's wonderful mei mei." He said turning towards his sister with a bright smile._

"_Yeah, sure. It's all manners of dandy for her." Mal said waving a hand towards River. "Must be nice to be the only one up there, don't make it anything more'n okay." He finished as he stood up from his chair in the mess and turned towards the bridge._

"_Captain…" Simon said warningly._

"_Look Doc, I love your mei mei like she was my own." Mal stopped for a moment and glanced back over at River. "When she's not bein' all crazy." He amended, receiving a small smile and a roll of her eyes from River, before turning to make his way back to the bridge. "But I've come to rely on her to keep me an' the rest of us from gettin' shot. Seems to me her not hearin' what folks are thinkin's bound to hinder that._

_Mal stopped and turned back around to face Simon as soon as he made it to the bridge. "Don't make much sense for me to keep her about if she ain't earnin' her keep." He said seriously before flashing the flustered doctor a cocky grin._

_Simon's mouth fell open as he watched the Captain shut the door to the bridge, for only god knows what reason. That man couldn't be serious. He spun back around to stare at his sister, mouth still open, as she simply smiled back. "You… I…" he sputtered for a moment before shaking his head. "That man is insane." He muttered as he left the room._

River roused from her reminiscence as Mook nodded and looked over at Jayne, who seemed to be taking said anger out on his keyboard. "Yeah, well, it's Jayne. He's always angry about something."

River and Mook stood next to each other, staring over at an oblivious Jayne. "He's not all he seems." River said as she tilted her head and looked back over at Jayne.

Mook nodded again. "He's smarter than most give him credit for." He said turning back to River. "In a profession like his, being dumb gets you dead real quick… Better to be smart and act dumb," He said with a grin. "Helps lull people into a false sense of security around you." He explained seriously as River turned back towards him. "That way later in life you can stab them in the back for loads of money, which is kind of Jayne's specialty."

River shook her head and quirked an eyebrow. "That's not what happened to you."

Mook froze for a moment and just stared at the girl as she looked at Jayne. She was doing something, something more than just looking at him though he wasn't certain what, and Mook would be lying if it wasn't a little disconcerting.

"He trusted you. You broke that part of him." She said, ignoring the look she was getting from Mook.

"No one's perfect." He muttered, still staring at her.

River shook her head again, ignoring Mook completely now. "Won't let anyone in now… First cut's the deepest."

Mook blinked and looked back over to Jayne as an all too familiar feeling crept over him. He felt like he did over 15 years ago, when he left Jayne in the middle of the desert. He'd been lying to everyone, including himself, for over 15 gorram years, and it took all of five minutes with this little slip of a girl for him to admit it.

"Can't blame that all on me. It's how men like him live. They screw up on a job; they get dead or left behind." He said defensively, trying to ignore the dropping feeling that had begun in his stomach. Jayne had been the best at what he was hired to do, and he had been with Mook for longer than anyone else had. What they'd had was as close to an actual friendship as Mook had ever allowed himself.

Mook shook his head and turned away from Jayne to stare at the wall, hell anywhere that wasn't Jayne or the girl next to him. "He's lucky he just got left behind." Even as the words left his mouth, Mook knew it was a lie. Didn't matter how much he screwed up; Jayne'd deserved better than what Mook gave him.

"Peas in a pod. Both left broken in the end."

Mook stared at the girl, long and hard, as though that would help him to better understand her. He had a hunch that no amount of staring would help him understand her, no matter how long said staring lasted. He was desperately searching her face, trying to decide who exactly she was talking about, him and Jayne or her and Jayne.

TBC in the next part which will be up in a few days.


	10. Hindsight

Title: Old Friends, Fresh Wounds (Hindsight)

Series: Bad Blood

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Seriously guys I have nothing, I have to pay an arm and a leg to get my car fixed there is no way I can pay anyone anything of any worth if you take me to court over anything here.

Authors Note: Sorry this chapter took so long, RL is a bitch to deal with. I have no idea how long it will be until the next one gets done, I have a lot of things I need to do and school is starting again soon. Just know I am working on it, and my beta would kill me if I never finished the story.

Just so you know when I started writing that Wash/Zoe scene Yellowcard's "Believe" and My Chemical Romance's "Ghost of You" both played. In case you don't know those songs, they are pretty emo and all about sacrifice and death...poor Wash, it's like my playlist knew he was dead.

I really hope I didn't screw up Zoe or Wash in the last chapter, they are pretty hard to write. This half of the chapter was just really hard to get done, and that's pretty much all I can say about that. I hope you enjoy.

I would also like to say thank you to all of the reviews I've been getting, they're what keep me going and make me feel like I'm not wasting my time with all this writing.

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_The rain crashed down on the small town, drenching everything and making it hard to see. _

_The two ran between the houses and buildings, speaking in hushed voices to keep from being caught. They hurried as fast as their tired legs could take them, unheeding of the pain that laced their bodies from the constant action. _

_The edge of the town was just in site when it happened. The unflinching bang of the gun rang out so loud and clear that even the constant thunder couldn't drown out its sound._

_The mud turned red beneath his body as the rain continued to pour down, un-heeding of the life is was washing away._

_Her eyes, already filling with tears, turned from the cold dead form on the muddy ground before her to look at the person who had pulled the trigger and killed the man she loved._

_Her body shuttered as she took in the tall frame and still smoking gun, the deep brown of his jacket mocking the color of the mud around her. "Mal..."_

Lightning ripped through the sky and a crack of thunder rumbled through the heavy air as Inara was startled awake. Her arms barely held her body upright as shuddering breaths racked her body.

She leaned forward, taking her weight off her shaking arms, and wiped a hand across her brow as she desperately tried to keep her heart in check. It had only been a dream, a ludicrous dream thanks to an overtaxed mind and far more stress than was possibly healthy.

After she had finally regained some control of her breathing, she rose from her bed and stepped up to the small altar in her room. Inara barely heard the rain as it continued to pour as she knelt to light the candles. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to find her calm through the worry that had begun to work its way through her body.

Just as she had begun to relax, a soft knock at her door startled her out of her reverie. She looked around her at the candles she had lit and shook her head gently before looking over her shoulder at the door. "Come in."

Lyssa appeared in the open doorway. "Inara, I'm not disturbing you I hope."

Inara smiled at her old friend and shook her head. "Not at all, I was just about to meditate."

"Meditate?" Lyssa gave her a small smile, the closest thing you could get to a smirk from a full fledged Companion, as she walked into the room. "As I seem to remember it, you were never one for much meditation."

"People change."

Lyssa took a seat next to Inara, her smile fading as she moved. "So I hear."

Inara tried to keep the troubled frown from her face. "Is there something you wanted to see me about?" She asked tentatively, her old friend had been acting odd ever since Serenity had landed. She had known coming to the training house was not been the best idea the second she and Kaylee arrived, the others joining them only seemed to solidify that. The longer they were there the more distracted the trainees were, and the more chances she had to have to speak to the Guild again.

Lyssa took a deep breath and smoothed out her skirt before she placed her hands in her lap primly, it was a subtle sign that what she had come to discuss would most likely be something Inara wouldn't want to listen to. "I wanted to talk to you about what the guild spoke to you about."

"Lyssa, I would rather…"

"You can't leave when they do, Inara." She cut her off quickly. "Not if you want to be able to work as a Companion." She said with a sad shake of her head.

"Maybe I shouldn't be a Companion."

Lyssa's eyes grew wide in shock as she stared at her friend. "Inara."

"Is it so shocking?" She asked, standing up and walking across the room to get away from her friend's scandalized eyes. "I'm not the only one that's ever felt like this." She said looking towards the door. "Maybe Nandi and I had more in common than I knew." She whispered to herself, the sting of tears starting to burn her eyes at the memories.

"And look where she is now, Inara. You're better than that."

"I'm better than that?" Inara asked turning back to Lyssa. "Better than doing what I feel is right? What I know is right? "

Lyssa shook her head in confusion. "You've been a Companion for…"

"For a very long time," she cut her off again, "and I do wish to maintain my title and position within' the Guild, but not at the cost of…" She trailed off trying to find the right words. Serenity was more than a place to live, and a group of people to live with. Ever since she had joined the misfit crew of Serenity, she had been unable to call anywhere else home, or anyone else family.

"Of what, Inara?" Her friend asked as she gave her a hard look.

"Of where I feel I belong." Inara stated strongly, and it was the truth. She belonged there, on that ship with those people no matter what the cost.

Lyssa slowly stood up as she shook her head. "That's not what you were going to say."

"Of course it was. I belong on Serenity."

Lyssa turned and glared at Inara. "You mean you belong with him." She said angrily.

"I mean I belong with them, all of them."

Lyssa shook her head again and turned away from Inara. "If you stay with him you'll lose everything. The Guild won't just let you go." She said quietly over her shoulder.

Inara's eyes fell to the floor. "I wouldn't expect them to."

Lyssa made a conscious effort to keep her tone even and not snap at her old friend. "They won't keep you as a Companion either. You can't always have things your way." She spun around and leveled a long hard stare at Inara, the same one she used to discipline the young trainees and even some of the teachers when necessary. "You'll pay the price."

Inara met her gaze; it had been a long time since anyone had treated her like this, the Operative had been the last time she had had anyone threaten her. "Maybe it would be worth it."

"If I can't convince you to save yourself then perhaps I can convince you to save the rest of us." Lyssa said calmly, the threat gone from her voice.

Inara stared at her in confusion, all of this was about her and only her, and there was no way the others would be in any danger. The Guild had even said so. Inara hadn't come to her decision lightly, her recent nightmare was testament to that, and of all of the Companions in the Guild she had hoped Lyssa would understand the most.

"How do you think people will react to the truth?"

Inara shook her head passionately "They wouldn't know about…"

"Of course they'll know!" Lyssa said angrily, keeping her voice down so they wouldn't bring any attention to the fight they were having. "It's not just you on the line, Inara. It's all of us. Take that into consideration."

"Lyssa, you don't understand." Inara pleaded.

"You're right I don't." Lyssa shook her head again, an action she seemed to be doing more and more often the longer Inara was here at the Training House. "After what he did to us…"

"He didn't do anything to us, Lyssa." Inara cut her off, it wasn't right to judge the few by the many, and she knew for a fact Lyssa could identify with that.

"No, not him, but people like him…" she amended. "The people he believed in and fought for. You can't trust them, Inara, or anyone like them, not after everything." Lyssa stared at her friend for a long moment before continuing. "He's as much one of them as you are one of us."

Inara evened her gaze at Lyssa and took a deep breath. "I know."

Lyssa stared at Inara in confusion before the door to the room was thrown open and Mal stepped in. He stopped as soon as he noticed the two Companions, or more so the looks they were giving each other.

"Not interuptin' anything am I?" He asked, giving them both a soft smile. Last thing he needed was to have barged in during something important and get an earful from not only 'Nara but her other Companioney friend. After all, 'Nara was more than he could handle in that particular event as it was. T'weren't no need to go an' give her help.

"Not at all, Captain Reynolds, I was just excusing myself." Lyssa said with a smile before she turned back to look at Inara. "Inara, think about what I said."

Mal moved out of Lyssa's way and held the door open for her. He watched her as she disappeared down the hallway. "What'd she say?" He asked, still looking down the hallway.

Inara was also still staring out the door Lyssa had just walked through, lost in thought. "Nothing…"

Mal's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Nothing?" He nodded to himself as he walked into the room and looked around, 'Nara had gotten a bigger room than him. "Seems to me your version a' nothin' gets you a touch worked up."

Inara blinked, the comment knocking her out of her thoughts, and turned to look at Mal. "Excuse me?"

"'Nara, be honest with me." He said, crossing his arms over his chest and taking up his usual "you're going to answer my question or else 'cause I'm the Captain" stance, though his voice held none of the edge it usually did when he stood like that. "Ever since we got here, you've been all kinds of distant."

"I've had a lot to think about, Mal."

Mal smirked and nodded. "I'm sure you have."

Inara shook her head and moved towards the candles she had been lighting before Lyssa had come in. "Don't patronize me, Mal." She said over her shoulder.

"Patronize?" He questioned angrily.

Inara stared at Mal, her face a mask of indifference. "What did you want?"

"Hey!" he barked out angrily. "I was just checkin' to see where you wondered off to. No need to get snippy with me."

"I wasn't being snippy." Inara argued back.

"There was a snippyness." He accused with an angrily pointed finger.

The two stared at each other for a moment before a tentative knock at the door broke their eye battle. Both of them turned in time to see a young girl push the door open.

"Excuse me, but you have a wave…"

"A wave?" Inara bit her bottom lip lightly. The last thing she wanted was to have to talk to the Gulid again, after all they had made her choice implicitly clear before. "Could you please tell them I'm otherwise disposed?"

The young trainee's face faltered for a moment. "Oh…"

"Just tell them I'm meditating." Inara said with a warm smile, gesturing to the candles she had partially lit.

The trainee looked from the candles back to Inara before turning to look at Mal, who happened to shrug at her halfheartedly. "But…"

"Or bathing…" Inara said cutting the young girl off once again.

"Ms. Serra, that's fine," the girl said quickly. "But the wave isn't for you."

"It isn't?"

"No," The young girl shook her head before turning to look at Mal again, a small flirty smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she did so. "It's for Captain Reynolds."

Inara's eyes went wide and she had to keep from letting her mouth fall open. "Captain Reynolds?" She asked incredulously.

Mal grinned at the young girl before turning to stare at the still befuddled Companion next to him. "You sound so shocked." He said with mock indignity.

Inara fought the urge to roll her eyes. She was supposed to be setting a proper example for the trainees, and it wouldn't do for her to roll her eyes at Mal every time the urge presented itself, which was all too often.

Mal shook his head and looked back to the trainee. "Where's your Cortex viewer?" he asked with a grin, causing the young girl to undoubtedly swoon, though she kept it fairly well hidden.

The trainee nodded and motioned for Mal to follow her. Although the girl swung her hips in the seductive manner Ms. Serra herself had shown her, she was disappointed to see the pirate captain appeared to be lost in thought and had not noticed.

After absentmindely thanking the trainee, Mal sat down in front of the large screen the young girl had lead him to. He punched in a few keys, and the screen blinked on in front of him. The sight he was met with was more than enough to make his mouth drop open. "Jayne? Where in the gorram hell are you?"

Jayne glared at the smaller man on the other side of the connection. He had figured he'd be all manners of pissed when he saw Mal but, thanks to his nice little reunion with Mook, he was already more'n pissed, he was ready to kill the man. "Where am I? Where the hell were you?" He shouted angrily at the screen. "Me an' the feng le girl get to the gorram docks an' there weren't hide nor hair of you."

Mal took a deep breath to keep from gettin' too angry at the tone Jayne had taken with him. "We had to make ourselves scarce after the shootout."

"Scarce?" Jayne's face scrunched up in angry puzzlement. "You took off!"

Mal pinched the bridge of his nose and desperately tried to ignore the fact that his hired gun was yelling at him over a wave. "Jayne."

Jayne continued on, unheeding of Mal's warning tone. "You ditched us on a gorram farmin' planet just buzzin' with feds, Mal."

Mal began to try and cut in indignantly. "You think I wanted to…"

"You left me an' the girl alone, with no way off that planet," Jayne continued on his tirade. He'd been through more'n his fair share since they'd been split up an' he needed to vent. "No way of gettin' in touch an' no clue as to what ya had planned out."

"I figured you'd stay put and not…"

"You have any idea what me an crazy've been through since then?" He cut Mal off again, his anger slowly turning into something more dangerous as his yelling began to quiet and an edge of menace began to find its way into his voice.

Mal didn't even fight the urge to roll his eyes this time. "Got a feeling I'm gonna." He muttered to himself as he continued to only half-heartedly listen to Jayne.

"We had to go through over twenty check points where all we could do was hope no one recognized her." Jayne began counting the events off on his hand. "We got in a bar fight an' almost dead. Gorramit all, Mal, then we got ruttin' kidnapped."

Mal's head shot up in disbelief as Jayne's words sunk in. "You were kidnapped?"

Jayne glared the screen. "An' then they went and tortured me almost to death an' planned on doin' who knows what to her." He shouted, becoming more and more upset as he recalled everything that had gone on. He really hadn't been in the right state of mind to wonder what woulda happened to the girl had Higgins actually killed him.

"Who would kidnap you?" Mal asked, his brain warily skipping over the fact that Jayne actually sounded upset over his pilot's well being.

Jayne completely ignored Mal's question as he continued. "If'n that girl hadn't been stuck with me, I'd be dead now."

Mal's mouth fell open slightly at that bit of information. "River saved your life?" He asked blinking in disbelief, not that she could save his life but more-so that she _did_ save his life. "Why?"

Jayne glared at the screen again. "You an' me are gonna have a little talk when I get back."

Mal's face fell into what Wash had often called "his war face," he called it this because it was devoid of any emotion, it was stoic, steely even. "Now, that sounds an awful lot like a threat, Jayne."

"Good." Jayne shot back, his expression just as cold as Mal's.

The two glared at each other for a long moment, something that would have made anyone very uncomfortable had they been witness to it, before Mal spoke. "You're very lucky that girl is with you, Jayne."

"I know." He said simply, and it was the truth. No matter how much he complained to the crew, or to Mook, or hell even to her about bein' stuck with her it wouldn't change the fact that he was damn lucky.

Mal's glare faltered slightly at the comment, somethin' was off an' he didn't like it.

"I'm sendin' the coordinates," Jayne stated tersely as he began to punch them in. "An' Mal… get here quick." He said, cutting the transmission before Mal could argue back.

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Jayne sat there for a moment, glaring at the screen he had just turned off. He sighed quietly; this whole thing was getting complicated. When the hell had he ever been thankful for anyone, even if they'd saved him, least of all one of the Tams?

He chanced a glance over his shoulder to see River and Mook deep in conversation about something he couldn't be bothered with tryin' to figure out. No way Mook'd stopped flirtin' with her so it didn't really matter what they were sayin'. That gorram girl was trouble an' he had a feeling he hadn't seen the end of all the chaos that River Tam could reap. He had an even bigger feeling that he would be there when that trouble finally caught up to her.

Didn't matter though, 'cause now Mal was comin' an' that meant he had an out. Soon as the ship landed an' they rejoined the crew she wasn't his problem anymore. He could go along his merry an' not have to worry about the girl at all. 'Sides her brother an' the Captain could do enough of that for the whole crew as it was.

Last thing she needed was someone else tryin' to play a gorram knight in armour an' save her from the evils of her past. Even if she did need someone else to fill that role, weren't like he wanted it. He could barely stand the girl as it was. He didn't need to go an' give himself a reason to be stuck around her any more than he had to be. She was too smart for her own good, an' too crazy for anyone else's.

River's laughter rang out in the room and snapped Jayne out of his thoughts. He glared darkly over at the pair on the other side of the room. Gorram Mook, he really was gonna hafta shoot that man.

Jayne stalked over to the pair; making sure to stomp just a little harder on his way than was strictly needed. Mook stopped giving River his dashing smile when he saw Jayne appear just behind her.

River turned to look up at Jayne, her smile fading now that the irritable mercenary was back. "I take it didn't go too well?"

"I told you to watch him, not chit chat." He said tetchily as he snatched the gun from River's hands.

"Did watch him." River said simply staring up at Jayne as he continued to glower at Mook. "It would have been otiose to our objective had we remained nonvocal."

"What?"

"You said we needed to figure out what was going on..."

"I meant with Mal." He interrupted. "Ain't a thing Mook can tell us we need known'."

River half rolled her eyes as she stared up at him. "_And_," she began again loudly so he would know he had interrupted her, "you also stated that he could not be trusted. So I felt it best to keep him otherwise engaged, to remove any chances of eavesdropping."

Jayne clenched his jaw at her level-headed reasoning. Gorram girl had a reason for everything no matter how nutty, and it was really startin' to piss him off now that he'd begun to recognize it. He didn't need to go knowin' anymore about the inner-workings of River Tam's brain than he already did.

Decidin' he couldn't rightfully yell at her again, he turned his attention back to the annoyance that was Mook so he'd have someone to more comfortably yell at.

"Why the hell do you have the only workin' Cortex connection, Mook? Ain't any manner of smart keepin' it all close like." Jayne asked belligerently and a bit befuddled, wielding the gun a good deal easier than River had.

"Obviously…" Mook said sarcastically giving Jayne a small smirk, which earned him a sneer. "It's the only place it works for your information."

Jayne stared at him for a moment, clearly trying to work something out in his head before he said anything. "How's that happen? Havin' a whole planet with only one place ya can get the Cortex to patch through."

"Newhall ain't perfect Jayne." Mook said with a shrug. "We're one of your normal make and bake planets that just didn't quite bake right. Humidity is off the charts even though it hardly ever rains, something about the atmospheric disturbances makes it so the water in the air doesn't evaporate; it's also why we only have one working Cortex terminal. We've got plenty of satellites floatin' around up there; they just aren't powerful enough to punch through." He said, turning to give River a small smile.

At the sound of a growl, Mook turned back to Jayne's scowling form, intrigued that the man was getting mighty touchy when it came to that girl. "The sad thing is that no one really understands why," He continued, trying to keep the conversation from turning into something along the lines of Jayne getting pissed about something else. "But we can't complain too much. We've got the basics; air, land, water and at least we can support farms here so we don't have to import as much fresh food as other planets. All in all we're pretty well off."

Jayne huffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's just peachy." He muttered looking out the window to the rather dusty world outside.

Mook gave Jayne a tight smile, really trying to keep his calm, which Jayne always did make hard. "So," he started in the voice he saved for the hours upon hours of political speaking he had to suffer through these days, "what did your boss say about you being on my planet?"

Jayne returned to glaring at Mook. "They're comin'." Jayne answered shortly.

"Coming?" Mook repeated, though with proper grammar. It was surprising how a thing he had learned to use most of the time since becoming the owner of his very own planet could teeter when confronted with someone from his past. "Any idea how long it will be? How many days, hours, minutes…" he began to say "seconds" but he finished in a mumble not meant for the others to hear.

"At least three days." Jayne answered with the same annoyed smirk on his face he'd worn earlier. "She can tell you the rest." Jayne finished with a nod of his head towards River.

Mook looked over to River, who was looking between the two like there was something to be learned from the way they were acting with, and looking at, each other alone. "Can she?"

River quirked an eyebrow at Mook's questioning stare before she looked between himself and Jayne one more time. Now, that they had time to pass at their leisure, she asked, "How exactly do you two know each other?"

Jayne visibly tensed where he was standing. He didn't need to go skippin' down memory lane with Mook any time soon. He'd done enough of that already. "It was a long time ago."

Mook gave River a grin. "I was the first person to ever hire the lunkhead." He said pointing at Jayne, who gave out an undignified snort at the comment, or maybe the nickname. "Had to land to get a few parts for my ship, wound up in a bar near the docks." He started to explain to the eager young woman. "One thing led to another, a few unsavory words… a few punches… and I found Jayne." He finished with a smile shot the mercenary's way.

"Like I said, it was a long time ago."

"Over 19 years now right? Seems like only yesterday to me." Mook said, brow furrowing at the thought that 19 years only felt like yesterday.

"Well, it don't to me. So's how about we jus' drop it?" Jayne snapped.

"Guess we've both lived a lot since then." Mook said with a sigh, leaning against the wall behind him. "We've both dealt with a countless number of problems since then huh?"

"Some of us more'n others." Jayne said glaring around the huge house they were standing in.

"What does that mean?"

"It means it's more'n obvious you ain't known trouble for years now. Oh, sure, you've got yourself a gorram planet to be runnin' but that ain't got a lick on the go se I've been dealt over the same amount of time." Jayne said angrily. "How many times you been shot in the last 5 years, Mook? How many times've you been in a fist fight? How many times have you gone to sleep not known if'n you were gonna get paid the next day, or eat, or even get dead?"

"I…"

"None!" Jayne shouted cutting him off. "You ain't known trouble for a good long while now with your livin' here in your fancy house an' runnin' everyone's lives."

"I got different problems, Jayne."

"Yeah, right. 'Cause havin' to sign some papers on if'n the new road in town gets built or not is any kind of danger."

"I got people comin' an goin', doin' things I used to do and now I've got to uphold the law against 'em. I got people threatin' to kill me on a regular basis."

"How many of 'em have actually tried, Mook?"

"Just because I got out of the dangerous jobs doesn't mean I don't have troubles, Jayne."

"Trouble creates a capacity to handle it." River said as she stared at nothing, a bemused smile gracing her face. "Oliver Wendell Holmes." She trailed off as the two men stood glaring at her.

"You butt out of this. An' don't you go givin' me that look either! Ain't had nothin' but trouble since we got left." Jayne spat out angrily towards the girl. He'd been havin' a bad day an' all she could do was flirt with the cause for his bad day. Girl didn't seem to much care how he felt so why should he bother with how she did.

Rivers eyes went wide at the accusation his voice held. "None of that was my fault."

Jayne smirked disbelievingly at her. "Right 'cause you don't attract all kinds'a trouble."

"They've all been about you!" She shouted heatedly. "Every contretemps that has eventuated was your doing!"

"What the hell does that mean?" Jayne shot back, genuinely confused at what she had said. "Don't go pullin' that blatant use of your big ass vocabulary on me you feng le…"

"Not crazy, you catachrestic cretin!" River shouted cutting him off.

"What did you call me!" He bellowed angrily, though it didn't really matter what it had meant, he knew it was mean an' that's all that mattered. Girl had no call to be mean to him after he'd just gone and gotten them rescued.

River glared at him. "Everything gets jumbled when I'm upset… you know that." She said, rather than shouted, ignoring his question.

Jayne in turn as always ignored that li'l voice in the back of his head tellin' him to shut the ruttin' hell up as he gave the girl an outrageous smirk, something only Jayne could ever pull off. "Yeah well _she_ must be upset an awful lot cause _she_ ain't ever acted normal."

River glared at him, tears forming in her eyes though she refused to let them fall. "Haven't used she in months…"

"Can't change who you are." He sneered.

Falling back as if punched, River tried to keep her emotions incheck, but failed as she had been medically altered to do.

Clenching his fists, Jayne just stared at the girl as she shook her head and dashed out the door. He wouldn't lie, not even to himself, an' say he didn't mean what he said, which was the problem an' he knew it. He meant it, she was crazy and would always be crazy, weren't no changin' that. Whether he hurt the girl's feelings or not was obvious enough though an' he did regret that a little. She hadn't done anything to make him need ta snap at her like that.

None of that mattered though, 'cause sure as he was anything, he was honest… in his own way. The girl had even pointed it out to him before. He felt, said, and acted all the same. Weren't one to tell someone something he didn't believe. Didn't matter though, she weren't going to be his problem for much longer anyhow.

Mook looked out the door River had escaped through sadly before turning to glare disapprovingly at Jayne. "Good job, lunkhead."

"Why're you always callin' me that?" Jayne snapped back at him. He hadn't been in the mood for Mook when they had gotten there an' was in even less of the mood now that the feng le girl had run off.

"'Cause you're a lunkhead." Mook stated without explaining a thing, just like somethin' he would do too. "Whatever pissed you off wasn't her fault." He continued on. "Hell, you should be thanking her for sticking around with your worthless pigu this whole time."

"Why the hell's it matter to you?" Jayne asked warningly, weren't none of Mook's business what happened 'tween him an' River an' the man had better know it.

"It matters to me 'cause I've gotta deal with you for 3 days yet." He explained like it was the most obvious thing in the 'Verse.

"What?"

Mook shook his head and sighed. "Look, I feel bad about having left you there," He explained. "I don't feel bad about shooting at you though so don't expect an apology." He stated poking Jayne in the chest with an irritated finger. "But because I do feel bad about leaving you there I'll give you two a pair of rooms. You can stay until your ship docks." He finished walking away from Jayne.

Jayne stood there for a moment, taking in what Mook had just offered. "Don't act like that's gonna make things right between us," he called out, causing Mook to stop in his tracks. "'Cause it ain't."

Mook turned around to look at Jayne again. "If I were looking to make things right, Jayne, I'da said sorry."

Jayne watched Mook walk out of the room and turn out of sight. The whole gorram thing had gotten out of hand. Now, he needed to go an' find the girl 'fore she wondered off too far an' got snatched or lost or sumthin'. "Girl like her's bound to get a man killed."

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River rubbed furiously at her eyes, refusing to let any tears fall because of that feebleminded misbegotten buffoon! Why he had to always act cross was beyond her. He didn't always feel like that, like everyone was against him, no matter how he acted. He didn't even hate her, not nearly as much as he always let on.

Even when she had first come on board, he hadn't hated her. He had mostly been indifferent towards her, never anything more than merely annoyed. He'd hated Simon though and everything he stood for, but, unlike the rest of the crew, he had always seen them as different people, not two parts of one whole. They weren't the Tams to Jayne; they were Simon and his little sister, granted that wasn't much better but at least it was different.

It wasn't until just before they went to Ariel that he had seen her any differently. Until she had attacked him they were two people, after that they were one, after that they were worth something.

"Greedy little boy with his thumb in the pie." She muttered to herself as she wondered aimlessly down the street, artfully dodging those around her.

Maybe she was nothing but trouble, maybe she was an Albatross, cursed forever to continue in the duality of her nature. Born to dance but destined to kill.

A few stray tears began to streak their way down her face as she leaned against the nearest wall.

Jayne half-walked, half-jogged down the street, hoping against hope that he'd chosen the correct way to go so's he could catch up to the crazy girl. Weren't right for her to jus' go runnin' off like that. Didn't she know his ass was on the line when it came to her?

He scanned the busy street, growling under his breath when he didn't catch sight of the familiar head of messy brown hair. He turned and started to quickly make his way down the opposite way, staring at every brunette he passed, realizin' he'd be just as batty as she was if'n this kept up.

Jayne came to a stop at the end of the street, eyes darting around wildly. His heart started to beat a little faster when he didn't see her anywhere. She had to be over here, weren't no way he missed her the other way. "Wo shi tang ta de guai zai…" He muttered under his breath darkly, still searching for her in the crowd.

River looked up and saw Jayne anxiously searching the crowd just across the street from her, though the odds of him spotting her were remote since he was aimed in the wrong direction. It was rather impractical of him to not think that she might have crossed the street before making her way down it. She shook her head and wiped at her eyes again, trying to make the tears disappear.

Just as Jayne was about to give up hope, and turn back to search the other way, something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. The sunlight caught the edge of the gun, causing a glare to form on the smooth metal, something he was far too aware of no matter where he went.

His eyes were fixed to the gun before he realized who it was aimed at, and even if he had known there weren't a thing he coulda done to stop it. The man had pulled the trigger before Jayne could even react.

River's body tensed at the familiar stab. She pulled the dart out and looked at it for a moment as the tingling feeling filled her arm, soon she would pass out thanks to the drugs now coursing through her body. Her eyes darted across the street to find Jayne, he was there… he would save her.

Before she could find him in the mass of people she, had lost the feeling in her legs and had crumpled down to the ground. Three men in uniform soon began to make their way towards her.

"We've got her, Sir." The first one said into the comm he was wearing as the other two walked over towards River.

The man who had pulled the trigger pointed his gun down at her, a cold hard expression on his face. "Don't move, sweetie, or I'll have to shoot you with another one."

"You don't have to worry about her," his friend said coming up beside him and looking down at the girl crumpled on the floor. "She'll be out before you know it."

The gunner smirked down at her and chuckled to himself. "Sweet dreams."

TBC


End file.
